Legend of Megaroad: Book Two :::Director's Cut:::
by Newtype Alpha
Summary: In a distant corner of the galaxy, a loose federation of human colonists and Zentradi rogues fight for survival against the dreaded Supervision Army. The only hope for the future: the music and spirit of Lynn Minmei, and a battleship called SDF-Victory...
1. Introduction

**Note to Robotech Fans:**

I've been getting confused e-mails from people, so this is to clear up some continuity details--  
This story is based on the original Japanese series, "_Superdimensional Fortress Macross_" one which Robotech was based. The difference between the Macross timeline and the Robotech timeline is almost non-existent, except that in the Macross timeline SDF-2 was not destroyed by Kamjin's (Khyon's) suicide run and Misa Hayase (Lisa Hayes) took command of SDF-2 shortly after the conclusion of the series on a colonization mission.  
Characters are mostly the same, but the names are different, as listed here:  
- Rick Hunter = Hikaru Ichijo  
- Lisa Hayes = Misa Hayase  
- Max Sterling = Max Jeinus  
- Lynn Kyle = Lynn Kai-fun  
- Lynn Minmei = Lynn Minmei  
- Khyron = Kamjin Kravshera  
- Azonia = Lap Lamiz  
- Dolza = Gorg Bodolza

The rest of the characters are all original, and do not appear in any Macross or Robotech continuity beyond the confines of this fic.

Hope that clears things up for those of you who were confused. Any more questions, please e-mail me. Anyways, on with the fic...

**

* * *

**

**LEGEND OF MEGAROAD: BOOK II  
Superdimensional Fortress Victory**

Every war has a clear beginning and an end, a point at which a state of war officially begins and a point in time at which that conflict is said to be resolved. Conflicts without declaration are rarely called wars, and conflicts without a clear ending are commonly referred to as farces--or disasters, for the force which initiated the hostilities. The 1st Space War and 2nd Supervision War, though they both did have a clear beginning and ending, shall be forever be counted among history as one of the great catastrophic debacles of all time. For the Stellar Republic and the descendents of protoculture it ushered in a new age of civilization, while simultaneously giving birth to an adversary that would menace them for generations that would follow.

In the aftermath of the First Space War, a handful of humans climbed out of their bomb shelters and wrecked space craft to find the planet Earth devastated. Mankind all knew then that he had been lucky, that he had dodged the bullet of extinction by a narrow margin of just under a million survivors out of a population of six and a half billion. Mankind knew he could not afford to remain grounded on Earth any longer, and it was time to move outwards and find his place in the universe.

SDF-2 Megaroad-01 was designed to do just that. The famous colony mission commanded by Misa Hayase Ichijo left Macross City in August of 2012 on a course that would take them in a loop around the galactic core in hopes of finding remains of the protoculture. 80,000 humans and Zentradi went with them along with a small escort fleet. We followed their progress with high hopes, even as the Megaroad-02 and 03 were under construction.

In 2016, shortly before the launch of Megaroad-05, the Megaroad-01 colony ship deviated from its planned course for reasons unknown and moved towards a location on the opposite side of the galactic core. Following the reports of this course correction, all contact with SDF-2 Megaroad-01 was lost forever by the UN Space government, and that famous colony ship proceeded alone to face it's now historic destiny.

Most historians agree that the 2nd Supervision War began in the Acheron system, ironically the same place where the 2nd Space War would begin three decades later. The first shots of the war were probably fired by a hapless Regult pilot in a now non-existent ice crater, but the first kills of the war were scored by then Megaroad-01 squadron leader Commander Broli Kidronik with a pair of reactive missiles fired from his VF-1S Super Valkyrie. The battle over that tiny moon was short and small, and ended when SDF-102 Phoenix fired its main cannon for the first time, destroying the Supervision Army's underground base and almost splitting the planetoid in half. Many weeks later, when the SDF-2 Megaroad-01 arrived at the planet Gallaron and rescued a besieged Zentradi fleet from annihilation at the hands of the Supervision Army in a battle that would become a national holiday. It is said that the Stellar Republic was forged of the fires of that very first battle.

UN History books do not record the establishment of that Megaroad-01 colony on the planet Gallaron. The overuse of fold weapons in the Arturo sector half a million years ago has made that region a subspace deadzone where fold navigation is difficult and long range communications are next to impossible. The formal declaration of independence from the Megaroad City Council and Misa Hayase Ichijo was carried to Earth by a stealth cruiser, and in order to keep the UNG out of the conflict, the existence of Megaroad-01 was erased from the history books. Like its historic predecessor of the First Space War, the Megaroad was sacrificed by its superiors to keep a rampaging enemy away from Earth, so that mankind might be spared of another catastrophe. for years afterwards, the colony mission was written off as a martyr, as SDF-2 stood alone against the hordes of Supervision Army warships massed at their very doorstep.

But the expectations of the UN Spacy--and the Megaroad colonists--never reacted fruition. Instead of being anihilated, the colony flourished. Instead of being overun, the Megaroad beat them back. Instead of being isolated and alone to their fate, the Soldiers of Gallaron found in the darkest places a host of allies of all shapes and sizes to aid them in their darkest hours. The doomed expedition became a triumph of willpower.

The newly independent Megaroad Colony immediately built itself an army and space fleet that soon rivaled its UN counterparts. Several old protoculture warships were salvaged, including Thor class missile destroyers and a half dozen Superdimensional Fortresses (redesignated "superdimensional cruisers"). SDF-2 was even modified for frontline combat, with part of its city block cleared out and moved to the surface and the empty section in the front of the ship replaced with a powerful energy cannon. The first true battles of the Second Supervision War, the Battles of Kaderak-Three, Zjen-Kari, Mishalla, and Soccoro-Delcaan set the standard for the scale of warfare against the enemy. Even outnumbered and outgunned, victory was never far from their grasp. They suffered devastating blows at the hands of their enemies, and responded by dealing out humiliating defeats. At Soccoro-Delcaan the Supervision Army had routed the GSDF if open combat, but in the Christmas Offensive of the same year, the GSDF avenged their fallen comrades with the massacre at Bolo-Delcaan. Now the Supervision Army wiped the blood from its nose.

By March of 2017, the morale of the Republic had reached an all time high. Despite a growing number of enemy forces and military setbacks, Gallaron had become a world of optimism and positive energy. In support of the war effort, privateers took to discarded Zentradi space craft and flung themselves into space, settling on border worlds near the front to build ports of call for weary soldiers to stop for repairs, supplies, or just purchase a brief respite from the day-to-day reality of their ships and mecha. Construction teams built massive facilities, docks and airfields, and where the workers went the merchants followed, bringing their families with them, and behind them a host of school teachers for their children, carpenters, artists, singers and actors... soon a hundred border outposts along the frontier of combat had sprung up out of the un-tamed dust of interstellar words, and around each outpost a new Gallaron city, and each city soon to be the capital of a new Gallaron colony. And more and more, even as new hardships arose and new difficulties challenged both soldiers and pioneers at home and abroad, the spirit of the people reached the highest peaks.

And underneath all of it, the entire platform of public support for the war effort had really started with just one person, a young singer and actress named Lynn Minmei. In years past she had been an icon with a powerful fan base, now she was a media goddess to whom prayers were offered in talent shows. The public announcement of her romantic misfortune with her late and not-so-great husband Richard Powel had directed new attention in her direction. The first impulse to the public eye was one of scorn, as if the great Lynn Minmei had fallen from grace in a most humiliating fashion. But on the Tonight Show with Jamis Merrin, in a thorough but mercifully vague account, the entire world was made aware of what had happened, who it had involved, and why after almost a year of public absence she now stood before a studio audience in her seventh month of pregnancy. All of Gallaron collectively shed a tear, then as one people rose to their feet and applauded her courage and spirit.

And when she was finished, she closed the story with an otherwise innocent statement. "Well anyway, the gloves are off now, it's time to get my hands dirty again." The audience roared at the statement, and the papers ran the quote on the front page of the newspapers for two weeks calling her a "Role model for our colony." By the end of the month, the statement was printed on bill boards and posters all over the city, "Time to get your hands dirty," and country singer Gary Martins quickly produced a patriotic tune of the same name. The result of all this was a mass migration of inspired protoculture and Zentradi workers to the factory satellites to help with the war effort, working to build ships and mecha as quickly as possible and to repair the damaged facilities in the two planet-sized space stations. The pioneer exodus to the colony worlds flew Minmei's picture on its flags, and thousands more joined the space forces as recruits, manning the new ships and fighters almost as soon as they could be built and sent into action, all of them repeating the phrase to themselves, "I'd better get my hands dirty."

Even the smallest victories were celebrated and even the largest defeats were overshadowed by a coming victory on the horizon. A kind of standoff had emerged between the two great armies, neither of them able to advance, but with Gallaron slowly digging their trenches deeper and their walls stronger than ever. It was in this period of optimistic uncertainty in the war situation that a new constitution was drafted by the Megaroad City Council and the ruling body of the protoculture known as the "Elders." In the presence of Lynn Minmei and with the signature a paraplegic Misa Hayase Ichijo, the Stellar Republic of Gallaron was born on December 1, 2016 at 2200 hours, Gallaron Standard Time.

During an interview on a taping of the Marian Crane Show only four days later the entire Republic first stopped to hold its breath. After a few innocent jokes and idle chit chat for the entertainment of the studio audience, Marian asked plainly what Minmei was going to name the twins. Minmei was about to answer, then stopped and stared down at her stomach, then, turning to the camera, and screamed at the top of her lungs: "If any of you viewers are in the South Emerson neighborhood of Hantu City, call me an ambulance right frickin now!" Needless to say, this was followed by one of the longest commercial breaks in television history. Eleven minutes later, a four pound baby named Lynn Yu was born into the world in the back seat of Marian Crane's limousine after approximately eight seconds of labor. The second twin was stubborn, holding out not only for the duration of the ride to the hospital but persisting for over twenty agonizing hours in the delivery room. In mid afternoon the next day, Lynn Taosan was born at six pounds ten ounces. Four days later, Minmei walked out of the hospital with her children in her arms to see a new billboard in the walls, a picture of two babies with rattles in one hand and ark-welders in the other, each thinking "It's never too early to get your hands dirty." (She once mentioned to me that after seeing this, Lao Kai Chan had to take her back to the emergency room before she died laughing.)

Midway into the year, the media goddess took her seat atop a pantheon of patriotic heroes. The old brand of celebrities--the sports stars, the religious leaders, singers and actors--were quickly supplanted by new faces. Fighter pilots replaced baseball players, Admirals replaced actors, even marines had replaced super models in magazines and literature. Like never before in history the Republic of Gallaron became enamored with the deeds of heroes and the exploits of the brave, some following the call of duty even to their deaths, some going on to triumphs of epic proportions. Legends and myths were being written in the stars above their heads until, before long, even Minmei faded to the margins as all eyes cast to the heavens in search of new war heroes to place on a pedestal; the heroes of Gallaron were the only salvation for protoculture.

But the separation between public opinion and reality is a gulf that is often impossible to bridge. Despite the rallying of the people, the leaders of the GSDF knew the Supervision Army would not be held back forever. They knew it was only a matter of time before the protodeviln warlord came raging through the defenses with his armadas and his death squads, and all the hero worship in the universe wouldn't not be enough to stay his wrath. Yet the leaders of the GSDF had been infected by the high hopes of the Republic. They too sought new heroes in which to invest their faith, they too looked to the warriors on the front to save them from extinction. From their efforts, a new hero was about to take the stage on the Gallaron front, a new champion of symbolic purpose, but acting also as a symbol and larger than life. What Gallaron needed was a Titan that could, as Minmei had so innocently put it, "get it's hands dirty," in the fight for survival. So they set out to create their new hero; an old design plan was taken off the back burner, a ship that would soon become as famous as it's older sisters the SDF-2 Megaroad-01 and the SDF-1 Macross. It was the first of a new breed of legends, the first chapter of Gallaron's rise to power.

It was given the number "09." It was given the name "Victory."

* * *

Some who have lived in Macross City will remember the ship but not the name, and some who have fought on the front lines of the Second Space War eighteen months ago will remember the name but not the ship. It is a powerful vessel by any standards, able to engage space craft three, even four times its size. I've seen this ship tear through Zentradi battleships like tin foil, watched it overcome doomsday-scale firepower and continue on with a smile. On more than a few occasions I have watched the battlecruiser burning in space from a nightmarish pounding, yet never yielding and never surrendering no matter how impossible the odds. The Republic of Gallaron was looking for a symbol, what greater symbol is there than the Superdimensional Fortress Victory? 

I am told that this ship was actually one of the last in the Gallaron fleet to bare and English name until the end of the war some years later, which is ironic considering the ship's commander was former Queadlunn-Rau pilot with a thick Zentradi accent. The ship has changed very little since its launch from Alpha Factory thirty four years ago, and it would surprise a few people here in the United Nations to learn that this ship actually had the same appearance on the day it was built as it did on that fateful day over Macross City, even despite all the things it and its crew have been through over those three decades. Throughout the 2nd Supervision War, the Victory came to be known as the symbol of the Republic's Space forces, just as the Megaroad came to be known as the symbol of the Republic itself. Much has been made of the Republic's "warlike nature" in paying reverence to a weapon of war and destruction as a national icon, rather than adopting more peaceful symbols or icons as a "cultured" society should. I for one find such sentiments puzzling, considering that the the entire human race owes its continued existence to a single ship and a crew of forty thousand men and women.

We are quick to forget what we have in common with the Republic. By entering the age of space travel we have opened Pandora's Box; new threats can and will materialize on the horizon that can easily wipe out our entire civilization. Never before have the possibilities been so extreme--or so deadly--nor have the efforts to safeguard our future been won at such a high cost. As survivors of humanity, and citizens of the Unity Government, we must be dilligent and pay homage to our own heroes who have fought and died to secure our futures. We too have an icon that bears a striking resemblance to Gallaron's; it stands waist deep in the center of Lake Gloval where it always has and probably always will remind us of how close we came to disappearing forever. Unlike our beloved Macross, Gallaron's symbol remains in active service even to this day, and is not scheduled for retirement now or in the near future.

When I think about it, I imagine SDF-Victory will probably always fly, jut as I imagine that Minmei will always sing. Even after both have passed away into history, the things they have done for our universe and our people will last a thousand generations before they are forgotten.

- Fleet Admiral Maximillian Jenius

37th Colonization Fleet

* * *

**Author's note:**

Alot's changed in this story, and alot's been moved/added/removed/redesigned out of general "been so long since I wrote that part" bitterness. This won't quite be as comprehensive a revision as other stories I've done, but most who are familiar with this story WILL notice the changes. (Kinda like the Star Wars special editions, only cooler.) I'm posting chapters regularly, every Tuesday and Saturday from now on, so you won't have to wait to see the mind-boggling conclusion and--of course--the pitch to the upcoming Book III .


	2. Chapter 1: The Battle Lines

Chapter 1: The Battle Lines

--August 11, 2017--  
--04:20 GST--  
Captain Matheson blinked through the flash of a reaction warhead to the left of the ship. SDD-39 had taken another direct hit and was falling back behind the fleet in flames. Even as the ship disintegrated, she could see the lifepods ejecting from its hull and falling into space to be picked up by their comrades in powered armors. "Damn, we've lost the Sutherland..." She said under her breath. "Move the Bakkensho and the LaClark to the left flank and give us covering fire."

Lieutenant Commander Ryder sent the orders out, and two more destroyers maneuvered around to SDF-2's left side. Both of them fired into the blackness of space with a salvo of their forward lasers, only to be answered back with a salvo of the hundreds of Supervision Army ships up ahead. SDF-2 joined them with all of its forward guns, and the main screen in front of the bridge displayed several direct hits on enemy vessels, a few of them falling behind and launching escape pods and any salvageable mecha for their comrades to pick up. The gunners of Corina's fleet had gotten very good and hitting the enemy ships in tender spots.

And then Amelia looked over her consol and confirmed what she already knew. "Captain, enemy reinforcements approaching."

Corina sighed. "How many this time?"

"Ops reports medium battlegroup; twelve carriers, thirty cruisers, seventy destroyers and a few pickets and troops transports."

Corina looked over the status of her own fleet on the consol next to her chair. She had about that number of ships in her own force, though as one would expect she had known better than to deploy all of them to the front at one time. The Supervision fleets in this system were doing well to control the pace of the battle, patiently pushing forwards with the minimal front and advancing on the defense outpost on Ralga-IV. Even now, the twin booms of the station's four main cannons were pointed skywards and charging for yet another bombardment. As long as the reflex furnaces were intact, each of the four stations on the planet could fire four barrages from their mini-macross cannons about every 2 minutes. "Tell Ralga station to direct the next bombardment towards the enemy's rear echelon. They can't advance if we knock out their bakcbone."

"Yes ma'am." Ryder said, passing out the orders to the gunnery stations bellow.

Corina looked at her watch. Megaroad-01's main cannon was still charging and would not be able to fire for 2 more minutes. Even then she would wait for a worthy target, which was increasingly rare these days. The main cannon of SDF-2 had been installed with the ship's refit last year to destroy the larger Supervision Army command ships and battleships, but now these ships were flying mostly out in the open with the escort vessels giving them a wide berth, and it would be a waste to fire such a powerful weapon to destroy only one ship. "Lieutenant Ryder, check with communications. Any word on those reinforcements?"

Amelia checked her consol again. "The 5th fleet is heavily engaged with an enemy invasion force in the Bolo system. They can't spare any ships to help out."

"Typical." Corina muttered. The war had gone on like this for months. The enemy attacked just about every Gallaron installation at once with just enough strength to keep them all busy. Lacul seemed to be fighting a war of attrition; with more and more reinforcements arriving to his aide from other sectors of the galaxy he would never run out of ships no matter how many of them the GSDF knocked out. Every battle was the same, Gallaron fleets often came out of battles with a 12:1 kill ratio against the enemy, but they would still end up retreating and the besieged outpost would be destroyed. Soon the Supervision Army would push its way to Gallaron for no reason other than there wasn't enough ammunition in the entire fleet to destroy all of them, but the only reason they still had a chance to think about it was because of the half a million Zentradi ships attacking the enemy from the opposite end of the Arturo sector.

And then a powerful beam of light shot past SDF-2 on its starboard side, missing the enemy's front line entirely but striking down several ships close to the rear. A few seconds later, another blast, and then another, and then one more shot reached out from the icy planet below, sending dozens of enemy ships on a one way trip to oblivion. The Zentradi gunships on the far right flank of Corina's fleet joined the barrage, firing into the rear line of the enemy fleet in one deadly wave.

All at once, the enemy fleet stopped advancing. Most of the destroyers near the front of the formation shifted positions to get a good angle on Corina's ships, but none of them were even firing now. The heavier ships in the enemy fleet fell back towards Ralga's moon and the battery stations they had destroyed there, and before long the entire enemy front line had fallen back out of range of the Gallaron fleet. They seemed to be biding their time, analyzing the defenses of the planet to determine the best way to attack it. "Status of enemies, Commander?" Corina said as the enemies fell back. "What are they up to?"

"They're regrouping sir. I think they're shifting their formation to fill the rear echelons. They'll probably resume their attack again within the next two hours if they follow their usual patterns."

Corina nodded. "I think you're right, but we can't hold this position forever. Send another request to Fleet HQ for reinforcements."

"Yes sir, but we both know what they're going to say."

"You never know, maybe we'll get lucky. Just send it."

"Yes ma'am."

Corina took a moment to relax in her chair again. The almost constant battle was taking its toll on her and the entire crew. The fighter squadrons were worn out, barely a third of them were fully operational. Most if not all of the powered armor pilots were going into battle with field dressings over old wounds from battles two or three weeks ago, even Colonel Bilansky, the ship's Mobile Infantry commander was fighting with a newly-fitted prosthetic leg. But more than anything, Corina missed Broli. They'd been married for eleven months and she had only seem him twice since their wedding day. Whenever they seemed to find time to be together, there was always another emergency and both of them would rush right back to the bridge of their ships. Broli's 1st fleet was hundreds of light-years away now on the opposite side of the defense grid, and every day brought the possibility that Corina would never see him again.

She decided it was best not to dwell on these kinds of things and keep her mind on her duty. "Have all sections remain at Alert Level-1. Have three Valkyrie wings saddle up for an air strike."

Amelia glanced at her over her shoulder. "Air strike, sir?"

"The more pressure we apply to the enemy, the more control we have over the direction of the battle. Best to hit them while they're regrouping and take the offensive while we can."

Amelia nodded at the tactical wisdom. "Yes ma'am. I'll pass the order on to the rest of the fleet."

"You do that, but don't include the gunships. The enemy's new variable fighters might have the same idea." Corina looked out the giant viewport of the ship at the planet bellow. She didn't know why, but this made her think of Misa. She started to wonder what the Ichijos were up to right now.

--24:50 GST--  
Dumo Koru rose to his feet as the Colonel entered his office and held out his hand in what he had come to understand as the standard Miclone greeting. Hikaru shook his hand and sat down in the chair, and Misa entered shortly after in her wheelchair and likewise shook hands as she entered, "Thanks again for taking time out of your schedule for this, Dumo. We know you're very busy..."

"Not at all, Admiral, this is actually quite routine."

Misa smiled, "When my daughter's involved, nothing is ever exactly 'routine.'"

Koru grinned. "Now she tells me."

Hikaru adjusted himself into a comfortable posture in the padded chair in Koru's office and broke the ice for the good/bad news. "So... she didn't give you too much trouble, did she?"

"No more than I expected. The extra test we spoke about over the phone was just to make sure of a few things. I did a full profile, and even an M.R.I. during one of the tests..." Koru opened a large manila folder on his desk and shuffled through the papers, "And I gotta tell you, I'm really glad you brought her in when you did."

Misa's blood chilled for half a second, "Is something wrong with her?"

"Not exactly... now don't go getting all nervous on me, Admiral, your daughter is in perfect health, mentally and physically. The thing we did find is... a curiosity."

"What did you find?" Hikaru said, bracing himself.

"Miko demonstrates a psychological disposition--and a very mild one--towards a form of Anima Mak-Ibini, known on your world as autistic psychopathy or "Asperger's Syndrome." It's not especially unusual, but tends to go unreported among most people."

Misa and Hikaru turned and stared at each other, then back at the Koru with blank faces, "So... what's wrong with her?" Hikaru said.

Koru smiled, "I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with her, just that you should be aware that your daughter processes information far different than a normal person would. For instance, in one of the test questions I asked her to tell me about your variable fighter. For the next ten minutes I was treated to an EXTREMELY detailed explanation of the Valkyrie's fire control system and and brief summary of aerial tactics. The one thing she didn't do was describe the plane or what it looked like."

Hikaru understood immediately. It was one of Miko's little quirks he had come to marvel at, but until now he had never given it much thought. "So it's... what, an attention deficient thing?"

"Not at all. If she needed to, she could describe that plane in enough detail to build one herself. It's just that when I asked her an opened ended question about the Valkyrie, the first thing that came to her mind were very specific, minute details. And in three other test questions she had the same results, along with the data from the M.R.I. when I asked most of them. She breaks down and analyzes every detail of her life, but she never does consolidate all those details into a coherent image."

Misa rubbed her temples in confusion, "So... you're saying Miko is... you're saying she..."

"Let me put it this way," Koru folded his hands and spoke slowly, "Normal human thought process, as in your case, is like a film reel on a movie projector. In the daily events, each frame--your thoughts--flows seamlessly into the next frame, and the next frame, in a fluid motion that your can interpret as a singular event or concept, even though that event consists of dozens or even thousands of separate bits of information. Your brain blends them together to form a coherent singular image. Miko's thought process is completely different," Koru unfolded his hands and rested his palms on the papers, next to a photograph of a smiling toddler with a plastic airplane in her hand, "Her experience of the world is like a slide show. Every bit of data is in itself a completely separate concept for her to understand. Instead of blending it together to grasp the bigger picture, she breaks it apart and looks every bit of it in detail. That's why you and Hikaru look at an airplane and see a VF-4 Lighting, while Miko looks at the same airplane and sees a hyper-carbon fuselage in lifting body configuration, bound by two engine nacelles each mounting a Bofors Pulse laser and vectored exhaust, canard surfaces on the forward fuselage..." He glanced at the paper for her exact wording, "One and three-quarter meters aft of the canopy of the cockpit, etc, etc."

"But that's what a Lightnig is," Hikaru said defensively.

"Exactly right. But as I said, you'll look at the plane and see whole thing as one object. Miko looks and sees all three-million parts of that plane individually, and decides as an afterthought that all those parts make up a whole. Now don't get confused, it's not really a disability, in fact in many ways it's an advantage. I'm only telling you this because as she gets older, she's going to frustrate the hell out of you the way she thinks of things. She won't understand anything you try to explain to her unless she can take it apart and examine it piece by piece. That means there's going to be misunderstandings."

Misa could tell what he was getting at. "You mean we'll explain something to her and she'll misinterpret it based on the choice of words."

"Right. She'll listen to what you're saying, but the context of the statement goes right over her head. And I'm sure you realize, as with all kids, there's some things she won't understand no matter how you explain it to her."

Hikaru nodded in full agreement. "Between the two of us, there's no way she could dodge that genetic bullet. Stubbornness runs in BOTH of our families."

"I'm well aware of that." Koru tapped a little red button on his desk and called to the secretary around the corner, "Miss Jumo, I'm just about finished with Admiral Hayase, why don't you bring Miko down to the office now." He released the button and closed the folder again, now turning all of his attention to the wheelchair-bound Admiral. "Now, my good commandant, it's your turn to give ME some news."

Misa sighed and leaned back in the chair, "Your last treatment worked really well. The feeling came back in my legs finally."

Koru nodded, impressed. "Any movement?"

She shrugged, "I can sort of wiggle my toes now."

"He hasn't been tickling you again, has he?"

Misa shot Hikaru an evil look, "Actually, he's been doing ALOT of things to me lately..."

Hikaru stared at the ceiling, trying to look innocent when the door to the office opened and Miko walked in with an expression of frustration, "Mommy, the short boy with the thing on his nose ate my candy bar and when I told him to give it back, he licked it!"

Misa put her hand on her shoulder and smiled, "I'll buy you another one, okay?" Miko nodded and climbed up onto her lap, at once sinking into the cushion of her mother's legs. "Dumo, is there any... therapy or medication we need for her?"

"Not for her, no. But I'll tell you right now, both of YOU will."

--August 15, 2017--  
--12:30 GST--  
The main chamber of Alpha Factory's largest pod is more than four hundred miles from wall to wall and generally about a hundred miles from floor to ceiling. The relative scale of sizes is almost beyond human comprehension, but even a chamber of this size is anything but an open space. Durasteel columns five miles wide run from floor to cieling, each one affixed with literally hundreds of stations, recessed into their surfaces where a combat vessel of nearly any size can be assembled from a quantity of raw material. Battle scars in much of the machinery remained from combat with the Supervision Army centuries ago, but with each passing moment new machines were completed and new construction facilities burst to life somewhere in the main chamber.

Against columns and docks extending from the walls and ceilings, hundreds of Zentradi vessels were being refit, and alongside them Gallaron's newest warships were being assembled from scratch. The columns to which they were affixed were large enough to house entire cities, with enough stations around each to build hundreds of ships at once (if all of the stations were functional). One of the fortified stations close to the top of column Alpha-23 contained the nearly completed hull of SDF-08 Gaviaten, Gallaron's newest Macbeth class command cruiser. Alongside it the hulls of dozens of destroyers were being finalized, and further down the column past an entire section of decimated dock stations were a dozen more Phoenix class cruisers halfway through their own construction phase.

From the observation dome overlooking Alpha-23, Dr. Varcus' brain flew through the metal projections of fleet distribution and production schedules, finding himself grappling with increasingly dark futures. The fleet was growing steadily day by day, but it still wasn't enough to save Gallaron. The Thor class missile destroyers were being produced at a rapid pace and were having an effect, but more powerful ships like the Phoenix and Macbeth were needed, sooner than possible, and in greater numbers than Alpha Factor was capable of building. Blueprints displayed on the monitor to his right was part of the answer, but the list of renovations and robotic-repair initiatives on his desk showed all the more promise.. "I wonder if we're not making a huge mistake?" He was thinking out loud, but Admiral Hallas of the former Stellar Republic was inclined to address his concerns.

"There are never any certainties, especially with new weapons. Expanding this factory will be a help, and the new battlecruisers might just turn the tide of the war in our favor... or they might turn out to flying deathtraps and doom Gallaron to a swift death by fire."

"Your optimism is infectious, Admiral." He said with a hint of sarcasm, "But even if these new ships do turn out to be a raging success, where do you suppose we can find crews for them? Or commanders for that matter?"

"The crew? Well… I'm sure I could train some of my people for command positions. There's no shortage of volunteers these days."

"Actually, Admiral, I'm not as much worried about the command crew or even the captain of the ship, since Gallaron has plenty of volunteers at the moment. More specifically, we need music."

Hallas stared at the Zentradi archivist for a moment as the gravity of the situation sank in. "Not just any music either…"

"No. Only a few performers in the galaxy have the abilities we're looking for, but we have no way of knowing who they are or how to use these abilities. On the other hand, my research indicates the expression of music might only be coincidental."

Hallas nodded. "I've heard that as well. It's probably just easier to express as a form of entertainment than any other way."

"Maybe…" Varcus went through a list of people in his mind who might have fit any of the characteristics of an anima-spiritia, but only one came to mind. With two children and a lock-down daily schedule, he already could guess what she would say if he asked her to join the crew. "How's Shikari's hobby coming along?" He said, changing the subject.

Hallas smiled. "We've got some pretty good results from it so far. She's suggested that Lacul may have retained the services of some of his Vasals."

"Really? Like who?"

"Do you remember the one called Jinai?"

Varcus nodded. "He lead the offensive against the 41st Bogartha fleet two hundred years ago. The other Commanders of his fleet acted as support, thus accelerating the massacre. They say Lacul managed to control their minds without cutting off their higher brain functions, which makes them extremely dangerous in combat."

"And just what does the Great Warlord Shikari plan to do about it?"

Hallas looked out at the spread of ships under construction for hundreds of kilometers, then turned to leave the office. "She's probably planning some elaborate series of assassination attempts. I bet you a month's ration she'll fold right into the heart of Jinai's flagship and tear it appart with her bare hands."

Hallas closed the door behind him and brooded over the fleet for another moment. SDF-08 seemed to beckon to him as if yearning for a commander to begin its tour of duty as flagship of the 6th fleet. "The galaxy is tense, stretched like a steal cable. Soon it will snap, and the load will come crashing down. Will Victory by ready in time to catch it when it falls?" He cast his gaze back to the half completed hulk of the experimental ship further down the column, one ship of many but already several months ahead of the others in construction. All of the modules were completed and were being held in position just short of final assembly. The city block in the central module was being fabricated by construction crews inside; soon SDF-Victory would be ready to fly for the first time. "I can't wait to find out."   
  
--August 16, 2017--  
--08:40 GST--  
All hell was breaking loose on the planet without a name. The gunnery station on this little mud ball of a moon known as Defense Point Charlie Seven in the Gulara corridor was illuminated by the maelstrom of beam cannons from Supervision Army battlepods and the new variable powered armors that had appeared on the front lines only a few weeks before. The sky was full of explosions, and the smaller laser and particle turrets on the ground fired upwards almost non-stop along with the missile batteries at the base of each of the cannons. All four cannons were pointed skyward, the twin booms of the energy condensers rising almost half a mile above their spherical mounts. They were already charging for another barrage, each powered by a pair of reaction furnaces protected by layers of reinforced armor. Should the enemy penetrate to the base, all of the reaction furnaces would be set to overload.

The evacuation of the support personnel and anyone else not needed to fire the cannons was almost completed by now. SDF-07 Macbeth was hovering in the base in battle mode, laying down thick covering fire with its laser and missile turrets while the refugees packed into the city block like sardines in a can while fighters and powered armors swarmed all around in their deadly dance. Kai Chan and four marines in their new Stormlord powered armors found themselves in freefall, firing up at a group of diving variable armors with gunpods and plasma cannons in an effort to keep the pods from pressing past them. Kai Chan sank a burst into the leading armor, Alako and Rao both put a blast from their chest cannons into the second and third armor before the others broke off and gained altitude again. All five Zentradi powered armors set down on the deck bellow the cannon, and all five immediately fired their thrusters again to make a high speed dash to find some cover. Kai Chan stopped in mid air and came down into a trench next to Private Forest and took a moment to scan the battle zone around them. "Time, Forest?" Kai Chan said on the radio.

"Two more minutes, Skipper. Phoenix reports enemy ships are drowpping reinforcements and the fighter wings can't catch em all."

Kai Chan clenched his fist, not noticing or caring that the powered armor's hands would mimic the action. He looked around the sky again and saw a dozen Queadlunn-Rau armors flying overhead, each one headed upwards towards the top of the cannons, hot on the tail of a group of fighter pods. He was about to call them for a situation report when a dozen more Stormlords dropped into the trench next to him and started to reload rifles and gunpods. Almost as soon as they did, a Glaug armored vehicle passed overhead and fired a spread of mini-missile into the trench. Most of the suits hit the dirt and took cover, but Sergeant Rao's suit took several direct hits and collapsed to the ground unconscious. Kai Chan and Forest turned around and fired upwards with the plasma cannons on their forearms, each scoring a direct hit on the pod's engine section and sending the vehicle spiraling down in flames. Kai Chan watched the Glaug crash and explode, then changed radio frequencies to the SDF-07 for an update. "Capricorn-7 this is Pounder-1, what's the word on those reinforcements?!"

Captain Elensh was in no mood for Kai Chan's complaints, and the bridge of the Macbeth was far too busy for her to be bothered with this right now. All she really knew was that things were not going well for the GSDF. "Lieutenant Chan, the reinforcements from the 4th fleet have been redirected to more immediate emergencies. You'll just have to hold out alittle longer." Imura closed the channel and went back to her business. More reentry pods were entering the atmosphere, this time with Supervision micron and macron infantry in powered armors and tanks. But beyond that, Broli's fleet in near orbit was now taking heavy fire and couldn't last much longer. The enemy force attacking them was massive, almost two hundred strong in just the first wave, and every time Broli's group destroyed some of them, an entirely new group would rise to replace it. The defensive campaign to defend the Gulara Corridor had been three months of bitterness and bloodshed, and now at their last stand it was all coming to a disastrous end. "More immediate emergencies... we're about to loose this battle! What could possibly be more immediate than this?"

A signal broke through on Imura's monitor from the orbiting fleet, this time from the bridge of the Phoenix, almost a thousand kilometers up. "Captain Elensh, there's a new group of enemies moving towards the planet, riding the LaGrange point on the far side of the planet. They'll be in firing range of your position in four minutes."

Imura walked over to the first officer's station and checked with the fighter squadrons, confirming what she already knew. Every variable fighter on the ship was battling enemy mecha at a higher altitude with the powered armors closer to the ground. "Can you get a fighter wing on it?"

"Not in four minutes." Broli said sadly. "We're barely holding on here as it is."

"Great. How many are there now?"

"Nearly three hundred in the main group, an additional one hundred in the new ones coming up on your side."

Imura nodded. "We're going to have to evacuate in a hurry then. Tell Kai Chan to pull his marines back to the base perimeter and get ready to make a run for it."

Lieutenant Gouraz sagged a bit. She'd hoped on winning this battle more than anything else, but it looked like they would end up retreating once again. "Capricorn Seven calling Thug Zero: our forces are in a general retreat! We need you to cover the evac and get ready to pull out as fast as you can!"

Kai Chan didn't have to be told what that meant. _Reinforcements are coming, so we'll have to run for it... _"Thus Zero to mobile infantry, fall back to the base perimeter! We need to get out of here in a hurry!" He fired his boosters at that point and started flying back towards the cannon base, firing the last of his missiles at the enemy mecha around him as he did. All the powered armors around the base did likewise, blasting everything that moved with gunpods and beam cannons until their backs were literally against the walls of the base itself. Kai Chan fired off two quick bursts from his plasma cannons into a variable powered armor overhead; the blasts tore the machine apart but not before it could answer with a spread of its own missiles. He cut his thrusters and let himself fall, rolling on his back and sweeping away the missiles above him with the pulse laser on the front of his chest. "Macbeth, how much longer?!" He shouted as he cut in the thrusters to stop his descent.

"The evacuation is almost complete!" Mia's voice seemed more and more anxious every second. "The automated defense systems are finally operational again so as soon as the evacuation is completed we can go! Just hold on a few more minutes...!"

Kai Chan felt a rumbling at his feet and looked upwards to see the four main cannons at each corner of the base were moving again, this time aligning towards the horizon. He could also see the Macbeth moving into firing position next to the base, aligning for a 5-cannon salute to the new arrivals to the Gulara corridor. Imura's face had grown sullen in the anticipation. She'd been here too long, it was time to leave. "Range to targets?"

"Three hundred thousand, closing fast."

"Can we hit them effectively from this range?"

Mia checked her computers over quickly and nodded back. "The atmosphere's thin enough, we should be able to get a maximum strike at Two-fifty."

"Take aim and prepare to fire, Lieutenant." The main cannons lowered a few degrees and started to charge up. Every second brought the enemy ships closer into cannon range, all they had to do was wait. The Macbeth was starting to gain altitude now, climbing slowly so the powered armors could still get back to the ship but high enough to get them above the cannon base and a clear escape path with their main engines.

"Targets in range! Approaching optimum firing range... now!"

Imura licked her lips. "Fire all cannons! All fighters pull back at once!" The cannons of SDF-07 flared to life and then exploded in a beam of crimson light. The four cannons of the base did the same, and five well placed energy blasts cut through the atmosphere into the sky, across the distance between them, slicing through the thickest point of the enemy formation before fading to reveal a small galaxy of nuclear explosions right in the midst of them.

Mia looked at the space monitor report and frowned. "Thirty percent of approaching enemies destroyed."

Imura thought as much. "Recall all fighters at once! Arm the automated missile silos in the mountains and set for long range firing."

Mia sighed gravely and sent out the orders. They were really retreating again, another loss. Every day the GSDF lost more ground to the enemy, leaving a bank of reaction missiles behind as a parting shot to take out dozens of unsuspecting enemy ships. At this rate Mia knew she would live to see everything she cared about end in fire... almost as if to illustrate the point of her thoughts, Mia's monitor started screaming a new set of warnings. "Captain, we've got an energy spike! Enemy gunboats are returning fire!"

"Dammit! Engines, full powered ascent! Ground unit, get your asses back up here right now!" Imura gripped the side of her chair for what she knew would be a rough ride. Any second now the whole ship would be lifted into the sky by a new kind of energy.

Kai Chan's platoon pushed strait up from the base, swerving around fire from enemy fighter pods and powered armors towards the Macbeth as it rose higher and higher over the cannon base, each of them shouting at the top of their lungs in a surge of adrenaline. Private Beecher's Queadlunn-Rau platoons came up behind them, caught up with them quickly with their superior acceleration and actually grabbed each of them by the hand and pulled them along behind them to catch up faster. The Stormlords all started to touch down on the port ARMD platform when several beams of light struck down on and around the base from the horizon, turning mater directly into energy and generating a fireball large enough to swallow dozens of starships. The shockwave hit the Macbeth and knocked it sideways as it ascended; some of the powered armors free of the hull, tumbling into the air and back to the planet. Somehow Kai Chan managed to hang on, and as the ship rose out of the turmoil of the explosion he managed to free one hand and grab another powered armor that had lost its grip before it could fall back to the surface. "Pounder to Capricorn, what's the situation up there?!"

Imura steadied herself against the shaking of the ship and looked out of the viewport at the scene bellow her. Charlie Seven, and everything within ten kilometers of the base, had been reduced to a cloud of vapor rising into the sky over a tremendous crater. This battle was over, all they could do now was hope the automated defense systems and various booby traps they had set around this planet would turn the enemy's victory bitter. "Fold system standby. All fighters return to ship for hyperspace transit."

Mia could already see Broli's fleet battling the enemy ships on the horizon as they climbed through the atmosphere of the ship. They had lost a surprisingly small number of ships in this battle, but at any second they would be surrounded on all sides and would face the worst kind of annihilation imaginable unless they retreated to safer ground. "Fold system ready sir."

Broli's ships were already vanishing into hyperspace as the battle started to fade. This battle may have been lost, but there was another fight waiting right around the corner that they had to prepare for if this war was to continue. "Engage fold drive. We'll fall back to Lima-131."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Just a reminder to old readers and some new ones who might be checking out this fic, all times are given in GST (Gallaron Standard Time) which incidentally is a 33 hour day. (Sunrise at 00:00, sunset at 16:00. This also means that each month has 22 days with December having 23. Just FYI


	3. Chapter 2: The Family Business

Chapter 2: The Family Business

--August 22, 2017--  
--28:18 GST--  
It didn't take long before Lynn Minmei got right back to doing what she loved doing, the woman could not stay off the stage for any period of time. By day, she was a volunteer worker at the military hospital in the Megaroad City airfield, and by night she was Ling Powel, the brightest star of the now legendary Galaxy Boulevard Theatre. After the birth of the twins, Minmei's alias returned from the woodworks, this time as nothing more than a transparent pretense at a secret that by now was known to the entire city. Even so, whether she wore the pink wig and coke-bottle glasses to work every day or not, Ling Powel was her name, her persona, her background; it was a role within a role. Starting in early February, the theatre began to alternate between plays and musicals, starting with three weeks of "Julius Caesar", then two weeks of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and by late March it was time for another musical, casting Minmei as the leading role in "The Mikado." Almost every night, the audience was practically eating out of her hand, and Minmei showed up to the shows every night to see the theatre seats packed solid. She had even began writing her own project, a much anticipated Lynn Minmei Production called "The Legend of Shao Pai Lon" with some plot points borrowed from all of her favorite Jet Li movies. It was a project three years deferred, but she was patient enough to work with it day by day.

On this night the theatre was packed solid, and she knew it would mean another bonus for herself and the entire cast. The tickets for the Mikado had sold out weeks ago, and from the crowd's reaction it seemed like the people had got their money's worth. On so many levels this satisfied her, and as usual Minmei offered a ride home to the first four actors who were ready to leave when she did. It always took about half an hour to drop all of them off, and now as always Minmei came back to her house, the house vacated by Hikaru and Misa when they returned to space.

Pris was asleep on the couch when she came in, and from the relative silence in the house the twins were clearly in the same state. She started to count her blessings, but first tilted her head to one side and listened for a few seconds. Right on cue there it was; Taosan wascrying again. Pris sat up on the couch like a switch had been pulled, but seeing Minmei in the doorway she waved a curt "hello" and immediately went back to sleep. Out of routine, Minmei went straight back into the kitchen to get two bottles, one for each of the twins and went upstairs to feed them. The two cribs were on opposite sides of what used to be Miko's room, and as usual all the noise came from the crib close to the window. "Taosan, why do you always have to make such a fuss?" She said, picking up the screaming child and shoving a bottle into his mouth. "If you don't loosen up you'll end up just like your father." Taosan was quiet now, perfectly content for the time being. Minmei placed a chair in the middle of the room and picked up Yu from the other cradle, then sat both of them down on her knees. "And Yu's the quiet one. Not a peep out of him..."

Minmei felt something vibrating in her pocket, and she reached down to pick up a rattling mobile phone she'd used to replace the now disconnected phone lines of the house. Only six people alive had her phone number, and four of them were off the planet. Only one person on Gallaron had any reason to call her at this time of night, and as usual Minmei answered the phone in Cantonese. "Hi Fei Chan."

"Hey Minmei!" Fei Chan said on the other line. "How're the kids."

Minmei sighed. "No change since the last time you called. Taosan was colicky this morning, but he seems okay now."

"Ugh! That boy's always fussin about something."

Minmei giggled. "He's charming in a way. Actually, he kinda reminds me of my cousin Kaifun."

Fei Chan grunted thoughtfully. "What about Yu? I keep running in there to see if he's still ALIVE and then I see him sitting there with his toes in his mouth."

Minmei laughed. "Yu's gonna be a famous philosopher some day. That's why he's quiet..." Minmei looked down to see Taosan already asleep on her lap. He would stay asleep for a few more hours before he woke up and started fussing again, so she set Yu down on the rug and put the other baby back in the crib. "The Mikado finishes up in a few days and then the theatre closes for renovation. Can I work for you part time until it goes back up?"

"You know you don't have to ask, but why don't you just stay home with the kids?"

"Well, I need money..."

Fei Chan groaned. "Forget it, I'll spot you a weeks pay. I really think you should take some time off, I mean you spend all day working in the airfield and all night at the theatre, and then you have a three hour window between jobs and twelve hours every night and morning to spend with them. I know it's a 33-hour day, but you should at least take a few nights off."

Minmei thought about it, and nodded to herself. "Well if you insist..."

"I do insist. If you don't take at least two days off every week I won't let you work for me."

She picked Yu up from the rug and carried him on her hip down the stairs and through the living room into the kitchen. Priss was awake by now, searching through the living room for her shoes for a moment before realizing in sleepy confusion they were already on her feet. "See you tomorrow, Minmei," She said with a yawn.

Minmei nodded in appreciation and stalked through the kitchen for a snack. "How's your brother? Any word on him yet?"

Fei Chan hesitated. "About that... the Macbeth and their battle group took really heavy casualties. They're calling it the worse defeat by the defense forces in over a year. I mean REAL bad... we haven't been hit like this since Soccoro-Delcaan."

Minmei looked at the newspaper on the counter telling of yet another retreat by Broli's advanced fleet. "I heard about that on the news. Is he okay?"

"He's alright, but he's alittle upset. He said he lost alot of good men out there. Including two of those young fellas who used to work in the restaurant, you remember?"

"Are you serious? Which ones?"

"Hans and Rao."

Minmei saddened, remembering the stammering East Indian rifleman who had almost passed while asking her for an autograph the first time they met. "Poor Rao... God, his sister was getting married this weekend..." Minmei set Yu down on the counter while she refilled his bottle, and smiled as the child's toes went strait into his mouth. "Fei Chan, I'm worried. Hikaru told me the other day that the enemy keeps charging the defenses and overrunning the shore batteries."

"Kai Chan said the same thing. But don't worry, if it comes to that I'm sure we'll find some way to drive them off."

Minmei pulled Yu's feet away from his face and put the bottle back in is mouth. "I really hope so. I don't even know how to use a gun."

"Kai Chan could teach you."

"If he's around." Minmei said scornfully. "He last came to see me two months ago."

This took Fei Chan by surprise. "Two months? I haven't seen him since Christmas! How come he hangs around you so much?"

Minmei giggled. "He just wants to get into my pants."

"You should go out with him. He's a good guy."

Minmei sighed. "Gimme a break Fei Chan..."

"Okay, okay. Listen, I gotta go. Talk to you later."

"Yeah, see ya." She took another look at Yu for any requests, but found the child a living model of contentment. "Poor Rao," She said again, a tear rolling down one cheek, "And Hans too... God, I hope Kai Chan's alright."

--07:40 GST--  
Imura rubbed her eyes again, slightly dizzy from almost three hours of staring at holographic projections for so many hours. No matter how she came at the situation, there was no way to avoid it, and there was nowhere left to run. Kai Chan was looking at the same holographic display in the ready room on the macron level, as were the other captains of the fleet ships. Imura had made it clear that anyone who had any idea what to do next was welcome to speak freely, and everyone else made it clear with their silence that no one had any clue what to do. She was growing impatient with herself. "Look, we've explored all the options already. We need to develop some kind of plan to get out of here alive." She looked out of the viewport of the command bridge as she spoke, gesturing to the extensive ring system and the gas giant planet bellow. They'd been hiding in the rings of this planet since the retreat from the Gulara Corridor as a temporary measure to make repairs, but the Supervision Army had set up a fold mine field around them and would not allow them to leave. The entire GSDF defense line was shifting position to compensate for the loss of their strategic position in this part of the sector; their window to escape grew increasingly smaller every minute.

Kai Chan gave up on it and slouched back in the giant chair in the ready room. "Obviously, we have to take out the fold mines. I mean we can't just sit here and wait for them to find us, can we?"

"Why can't we?" Imura said. "It's only a matter of time before reinforcements get to us..."

Lieutenant Gouraz piped up unexpectedly. "Captain Broli won't send anyone if he thinks we're DEAD! We have to move the fleet out of this system so we can reestablish contact with the main forces!"

Imura knew that was their only choice, but she also knew it was the most dangerous. "They outnumber us four to one, and we can't go head to head with them in our condition anyway. And even if we relied on fighter attacks to take on the enemy fleet, it would take at least two weeks to fight our way out of here and by that time we'll be so far behind the lines we'll never make it out."

Kai Chan sighed. "Well our only other choice is to sit here and gripe about it. The Supervision Army doesn't accept surrender."

Imura knew that was only too true. "Do all of you feel the same way? Even knowing that our chances for getting through them in one piece are about one in ten?"

No one else complained, some of them even seemed enthusiastic for it. "This is getting boring commander. We better do SOMETHING." said one of the destroyer captains.

"Agreed. But we still need a plan of attack to breach their lines and get started. Anyone have a suggestion?" There was a round of sad, defeated groans from around the fleet as one by one all the senior officers gave in to apathy. Imura rubbed her fingers through her hair and tried to think again. "I figured as much. Well sit tight, we'll think of something..."

--September 2, 2017--  
--14:50 GST--  
Shikari pinched the end of her strange discovery between two wooden sticks, not quite sure what to make of it but curiosity brimming over the edge. It appeared to be organic or at least some carbon based compound, combined with a strange concoction of vegetable matter for what purpose she couldn't be sure. Without the standard lab equipment, a detailed analysis was impossible, but this substance most certainly qualified as one of the strangest things she had ever seen in her short conscious life. "Odd... why is it wiggling like this?" She pulled the long yellow strands out of the mixture and looked at them more closely. "It looks like some kind of worm, but I don't see any oraphace. But the fibers don't look like plant life either... why is it so hot? Is it... still alive or...?"

Lieutenant Matt Harper had been watching her like this for several minutes, and all this time he couldn't help but laugh. Some of the other people in the food court had already taken a passing notice, especially the two Chinese cooks in the corner of the room who had noticed her fascination with the dish when they first served it to her several minutes ago. "You think too much. Just eat it already." Harper said chuckling.

Shikari stared at the noodles again, then back at the Lieutenant. "Are you sure it's safe?"

Harper chuckled again. "People eat this all the time." He scooped a lump of out of his own bowl and swallowed up a long patch of noodles in the time it took for Shikari to raise aneyebrow.

"Well... okay." Shikari angled the chopsticks and scooped up some of the noodles, swallowed nervously, then stared into her bowl in surprise. "Hmmm..." She shovoled another mouthful and swallowed, then stared at him with a smile. "It's... good!"

"Told you." Harper said with satisfaction. "It's called Miso Ramen. It's just noodles in onion broth with some seasoning. You like it?"

Shikari scooped up another mouthful of noodles in a few seconds, emptying just under half of her bowl in what could have been two strong inhales. She swallowed again, then picked at the bowl with her sticks to find more floating near the bottom. "I like it alot! Definately an improvement from the Zentradi meal pack... though it's probably not as nutritious."

"Who cares? It hits the spot, doesn't it?" Harper smirked. "Besdies, you're going to find that micronian culture has about a million different kinds of noodles and a million different ways to cook them. This just happens to be one of my favorite."

Shikari picked up the bowl and drained the rest of it's contents in one massive gulp, not spilling even a single drop from the corner of her mouth. Harper found this whole ordeal odd; he was two feet taller than this woman, who had just put away a massive bowl of ramen noodles like a glass of water. Shikari set the now empty bowl down on the table, belched loudly, then started reaching across the table for his bowl. "You gonna eat that?" At the risk of maybe loosing a limb to her appetite, Harper shook his head. With one deft movement Shikari snatched the bowl off the table and quickly unloaded it's contents into her own stomach in much the same way as her own, now leaving two empty bowls sitting on the table next to two empty glasses of beer. "Thank you for that..." She said at last, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Harper felt cheated, but more than anything he was amazed. "How much do you weigh?"

"On this ship? Uh, about a hundred and two."

"I figured. How can someone so small eat so much?"

Shikari seemed confused. "How much do YOU usually eat?"

"I don't even eat THAT much and I'm twice your size!"

Shikari smiled brightly. "Size can be deceptive. Especially when genetic engineering is involved...."

"No shit." Harper looked at his watch. The fleet was scheduled to arrive at the front in a few more hours, at which point they would again be plunged into battle against the Supervision Army. All of the other fleets were taking efforts to cover the defense outposts to buy time for the factor satellites to build up more ships and defense systems for the planet Gallaron, but Shikari's 2nd fleet was the only battle group in the GSDF that was actually going on the offensive. "Anyway, what's so important that you'd come all the way over here from the Defiant just to talk to me? Am I all that interesting?"

Shikari smiled again. "Not really, but you're right, there was a reason for this meeting."

"Well?"

"Well, I've been doing some research into human behaviors and customs, more than anything I've been watching some of your movies and such. I've found there's one thing they all seem to have in common and I can't figure out why."

Harper could guess where this was going, and he didn't like it at all. "What?"

"Sex."

"Sex?"

"Yes. The most common expression of male and female interactions in these kinds of presentations are what people call romance, and it almost always involved men and women kissing each other, or sometimes physically mating. I've watched dozens of films on the subject, but I'm sure there's something I'm missing. I mean... well it doesn't seem pleasurable at all, especially to be..."

"I get the picture." Harper said, cutting her off for the benefit of his peace of mind. "No wonder you're confused. What do you want me to help you with?"

"I'd like to know what purpose it serves? It doesn't really cause any kind of serious physiological changes, although much of the literature ties it in with the human reproductive process, though I'm pretty fuzzy on THAT too... I think what I'd like to know is why is it so prominent in human fantasy?"

Harper looked around nervously, planning his escape route from what he now knew to be some kind of trap. "So what'd you have in mind?"

Shikari's cheeks started to flush. She didn't quite have the nerve to ask him in his own language, so she tried first in Zentradi, "Amana ugenosto talni jih'jadel?"

Harper flinched. "What?"

Blushing profusely, Shikari leaned forward and whispered the request in his ear in English.

Harper's eye bulged in shock, then his face turned a deep shade of purple to match hers, "I was afraid you'd say that..."

"You don't like the idea?"

"Like it? Shik, I barely know you. Besides, we're comrades on a battlefield, we don't have time for this sort of thing, even if it weren't completely improper." Even as he spoke, a tiny voice in the back of his mind urged him to take the offer for what it was.

"Why not? Is it... something about me?"

He couldn't be totally certain, but she almost looked disappointed, maybe even alittle offended. "Well there's... well there's a social understanding that's supposed to go with it. It can't really be reproduced experimentally, even for gathering data. Even something as simple as a kiss has alot of... well, consequences."

Shikari squinted at him. "But... Colonel Ichijo and his wife kissed each other to confuse the Zentradi during the war. And that was at a time when they hated each other."

"That was just a demonstration, it was only meant to represent the act. You see there's a bit of a psychological aspect involved."

"But can't you demonstrate... umm... you know?"

Harper shook his head. "Sorry, Admiral, I'm... I'm not the kind of person who 'demonstrates' that sort of thing. Besides, alot of the humans in your... films... were actors anyway. It's not an accurate representation."

"I know. That's why I wanted to experience the real thing."

"Shik..."

"Mathew, something really weird happens to me when I watch those movies... something... I can't really understand it but I feel like I'm missing something."

This he could relate to. "I know how you feel, Admiral, really. But trust me, you're going about this totally the wrong way," He considered his words carefully, remembering the social age of his comrade, "You can't produce it in a lab, you have to wait for it to happen. You'll meet someone, and the chemistry is just right, and you find out this person is really special to you and makes you feel good about yourself. That's what humans call falling in love, and THAT's what leads to... the other stuff you're interested in. But for now, just be patient, okay?"

She felt a weight of disappointment sitting on her shoulders, but at the same time a boost of encouragement, "So you're saying I should go through the whole process naturally, right? I mean... try to develop a relationship and whatnot?"

Harper nodded. "Now you've got it."

"And how will I know if I meet that person? The RIGHT person?"

"Like I said, that person will make you feel really good about yourself."

She smiled at the idea, her eyes lighting up like a pair of floodlights. Before Harper's bewilderment her feet seemed to loose contact with the ground as she walked out of the food court, floating away towards the door with her head in the clouds. He watched her disappear on her way to make the crossing back to the Defiant and chuckled to himself, "I'd hate to the the object of HER affection..."

--19:40 GST--  
Hikaru rolled the fighter over in a high-G maneuver just to give Miko something to squeak at. Her reaction was disappointing; she didn't even break the rhythm of the old Shiar children's song she'd been humming since the moment they left the ship. With the asteroids in the rings of this planet zipping past the cockpit as they were, everything seemed to move so much faster, even he found himself excited by the feeling of soaring through space. But then he remembered what Koru had mentioned to her a few weeks prior. _I see what he means now_, he thought, _Miko's not taking it all in as a big picture... she's reacting to things but not interpreting them... _Something about this understanding brought him a degree of comfort. Clearly the little girl in the seat behind him understood everything that was happening, but hers was a truly unique perspective: no matter where she was or what she was doing, she was always perfectly comfortable. "You okay back there?" Hikaru said, glancing over his shoulder.

Miko was staring out the window, taking in the amazing sights around them as they maneuvered through the rings with a bewildered expression. "We're kinda slowing down." She said softly.

"Kinda, yeah..." Just for fun, Hikaru corkscrewed around in space, zigzagging between chunks of ice the size of houses to apply G-forces on the fighter in every way possible. Miko, as always, didn't seem to notice or care. It was as if every move the fighter made was just a wave of her father's hand, moving her around in a gravity free paradise. "Hey Miko, I'm giving you the controls now. Try and fly between those two asteroids right there."

"Right where?"

"Right there."

"Eskes."

Hikaru blinked suddenly. "What'd you just say?"

"I said I know!" Miko said, taking the controls in hand.

Hikaru looked at her for a long moment. "I could have sworn you said..." he turned back to the front and watched Miko's progress in his cockpit. All he had to do was flip the switch in his cockpit back to front controls and he would again be in full command of his fighter, but not before Miko had a little practice with her favorite toy. The two asteroids were massive, and the way they drifted together they made an kind of floating canyon in the spaces between them that seemed perilous to navigate even for an experienced pilot. "Right in through there." Hikaru said slowly.

"How do I make it go again?" Miko said, craning her head around the cockpit curiously.

"The throttle, the thing on the left..."

"I see..." Miko pushed the throttle forward... she added too much thrust at first, and the fighter blasted off towards the asteroids at full afterburner.

Miko seemed satisfied by the reaction and took to barreling around in space just for the fun of it, apparently forgetting about the two larger asteroids she was supposed to be flying through. "Miko, you watching where you're going?" Hikaru said, trying to keep from laughing.

"Right there?" Miko turned the fighter in space and started rolling around, trying to line up the approach to slip in between the two rocks. "I don't think I'll fit."

"It'll fit, don't worry just try it."

Miko eased back on the throttle and pulled in closer to the rock, but at the last moment she pulled the stick back and cut their velocity down to nothing. "Uh uh! Gonna cwash!"

Hikaru chuckled playfully. "Alright, alright. I'll take control again. You just sit tight and have fun."

"Kay."

Even after Hikaru took control of the fighter again, Miko still held the control stick and the throttle, trying childishly to imitate her father's movements with the movements of her own controls. From what we could see in his mirrors, she seemed to be succeeding. "You'd be proud of her Roy..." He whispered to himself, smirking at in remembrance at something Roy used to say to him all the time at the flying circus, _You think it's all fun and games, Hikaru, but one day you'll have a kid JUST LIKE YOU! We'll see who's laughing then!_ The statement was almost always followed by Roy's half-villainous laughter, and now Hikaru couldn't help but wonder if his Sempai was even now laughing at him from beyond the grave and shouting...

"Daddy, daddy, lookit!" Miko was pointing off to the port side of the fighter were a group of tiny lights was flickering in the distance. Hikaru squinted at them for a moment, trying to make them out, until at last one of the lights blossomed into an explosion in the distance.

"That's KL-19." He said, checking his charts. "Must be an attack..." He checked the radio transponders and scanned around for other fighters. There were 8 other Lightings on patrol in the area in range of his radio. "Skull Zero to all fighters, enemy activity confirmed in the KL-19 sector. Possible enemy radio jamming, proceed with caution." Hikaru knew they wouldn't reply to him on an open channel, lest they give away their position to any enemy mecha in the area who planned on ambushing them. Anyone who got the message would join him at the KL-19 listening post that was probably being attacked, and if they could divert the attackers the base and its defenses would be able to send for reinforcements from the main group. "We're gonna have to do alittle fighting Miko. You okay back there?"

Miko nodded in her space suit. "Mommy's gonna be mad at you."

"That's true..." Hikaru thought about how emotional Misa had been acting lately, not that he could really blame her considering all she'd been through in the past couple of months. And he knew it wasn't just the usual frustration either; through Christmas and new years, and then Miko's birthday and their anniversary, and every time Hikaru took the girl to play at the park or to the movies, he had seen Misa screaming inside herself, trying to get up be what she used to be again. It was murder for her just to not be able to carry her daughter anymore, to be half of what she had been. A lifetime of this would have destroyed her completely, but Hikaru knew it might take years for those deeper wounds to heal. Not that THIS was helping things much... "Tell you what sweetie. If anyone asks, we didn't go near any of the bad guys today. In fact, we didn't even see anybody out here. Can you remember that?"

"Bad guys? What bad guys?"

Hikaru smiled. "That's my girl."

--20:10 GST--  
It was clear to all on the command ship that Lacul was not in the best of moods. Admiral Bennet's gamble for the Gulara Corridor had provoked the expected response, and the micron officer was now staring blankly at the protodeviln across the monitor like a child facing an angry parent. "I'll give you one chance to explain your actions, Admiral. I am holding a report in my hand that you lost over three hundred front line warships taking the Gulara corridor from a contingent less than seventy enemies. Is there a way for you to explain this without using the words 'I' and 'incompetent?'"

Bennet already seemed bored with this conversation. "I already explained to you in my report, My Lord. The enemy has established large scale particle cannons on the surface of many of their outlying planets and has supported them with dedicated airfields, population centers, mine fields, even dry-docks for starships. The Gulara system has been a major staging area for their fleet since after Soccoro-Delcaan, so they've had much time to build up their defenses around it. The only way I could take Gulara was to use our superior numbers and overrun them, and in any case, Gulara is worth far more to Gallaron than three hundred of our ships. You understand, don't you?"

Lacul smiled. "Of course I understand. You think a little mudball planet without a name is worth 15% of our current fleet strength, and were more than willing to sacrifice MY army for your own foolish victories."

Bennet seemed startled. "Now wait just a minute...!"

"Admiral, it is clear to me that your expertise in fighting these people is not as extensive as I would have hoped, not to mention the fact that we project Misa Ichijo has been replaced as the high commander of the enemy space forces. I'm moving you back to the rear line and placing Kraken in charge of the Gallaron front until further notice."

Bennet snarled in rage. "But Sire, this is MY campaign! Surely you can't give this to Kraken...!"

"Kraken has never failed me before, which is more than I van say for you. Return home immediately, over and out." Lacul closed the channel and chuckled to himself over Bennet's disgruntlement. "He reminds me of myself, half a million years ago. I used to argue with Gepernich the same way..."

Kraken looked up from his position along the giant's side, staring up at him with wide eyes. "Why me Sire? Why not dispatch Sarride or Jinai?"

"Because of Jinai's condition, I like to keep him out of the direct line of fire. He works best only when he has a buffer between himself and his enemies. And Sarride has her own problems, I wouldn't want to give her an opportunity to screw up such an important mission as this one. She can stay on the Botoru front for now."

Kraken nodded. "Then I will join the front with Lazuli and Jinai?"

"That's the idea. One your way, Kraken. Jinai will reinforce you from the rear when asked, and Lazuli will act as your reconnaissance unit." Kraken saluted and started for the gravity platform to his ship. "One more thing, Kraken." The Zentradi stopped the platform and turned to face his master. "About Jinai. I should tell you the rumors about him are incorrect."

"Eh?" Kraken turned all the way on the platform and faced Lacul completely. "I heard he had some kind of mental handicap..."

"Not quite. More accurately, he's slightly autistic. I found him on a protoculture colony hundreds of years ago that was attempting to resist our fleet. No matter how many times I drain spiritia from the man, he just keeps regenerating."

Kraken found this somewhat disturbing, though he wasn't sure why. "You mean he's fully conscious?"

"Yes. He is free of all mental conditioning, but as far as I can tell he's a strategic genius. The only way I manage to keep him in control is through his family. His mate and three male offspring are in stasis within this base ship, hidden where even I can't always find them."

Kraken understood. "Then this changes nothing. One way or another, his loyalty is assured."

"Yes. His home colony has been wiped out, and he is a somewhat fickle man. Keeping him in line has always been easy. I just want you to know this so you'll be able to rely on his abilities, he's a strange mind but quite intelligent."

Kraken nodded. "Thank you My Lord. I will sortie at once."

--22:01 GST--  
A VF-4G Lighting fighter maneuvered into the fighter bay of the SDF-Monitor in gerwalk mode and set down on the deck with a clumsy thud. There was a flame out in one engine, with one FAST pack blasted to bits and most of the main body pitted and scarred from small caliber auto-cannons and micro missiles from enemy powered armors. One of its arms had been blown off along with the wing on that side, and metal around the cockpit was slightly dented up from direct impact with an enemy mecha's fist. Misa had seen this fighter in far worse condition since the Monitor left Gallaron, and she had come to accept that a great many fighters had been hauled back to their ships with their pilots passed out or worse at the controls only to be repaired and sent back into space only a few hours later. But things were different this time. Hikaru wasn't alone.

The Colonel climbed down from the cockpit ladder and took of his helmet to take a much needed breath of fresh air, but when he turned around he found himself staring down at a very displeased woman in an Admiral's uniform in a wheelchair. They stared at each other for a few moments, Hikaru too petrified to say anything and Misa to angry to speak; any technicians and fire crews who had been working to secure the fighter discretely decided to keep their distance at that moment. Finally, Hikaru gathered his courage and decided to break the awkward silence between them. "Misa I..."

"Just what the hell were you thinking?!" Misa exploded, rolling up to him and staring strait up into his face. "Goddamit Hikaru, how could you?!"

"Misa, I'm sorry, I just didn't think--"

"You're damn right you didn't think! It's bad enough you'd go off and leave me here on this goddamn ship, but how DARE you risk the life of my child! I want you to stay away from her from now on! No more joyrides, no more games, just stay away!!" Miko slowly and quietly poked her head over the edge of the cockpit, watching the scene bellow shyly and trying her best not to be noticed.

"Look, I'm apologizing, okay? Miko wanted to go flying, so I took her with me on the patrol like I always do. Then KL-19 was attacked and the Hykomba was taking heavy fire. I had to follow orders..."

"Nobody ordered you to go get my daughter killed! You should have known better! If I ever catch you joyriding around with her again like that, I'LL KILL YOU!"

Miko started trembling. She couldn't quite understand why her mother always went so crazy whenever Hikaru took her flying, but it terrified her all the same every time they landed. The last three times they had gotten away with simply not telling her when he took her up, but after all the explosions and enemy ships that had been blown up in the last battle, Miko was sure she was in for at least a very thorough spanking. "Mommy..." She squeaked out, half expecting Misa to reach up with a thirty foot arm and snatch her out of the cockpit to tan her hide. "Daddy wanted to go home, but I din want to and I got trouble with the bad guys. I'm sorry..."

This only seemed to make Misa more angry and now she started charging him in the chair as if trying to run him over. "Oh, and now you're getting HER to cover for you too?! What the hell kind of father do you call yourself, risking the lives of other people just for your own...?!" the front wheels snagged on one a fuel line and the whole wheel chair tipped over in its side, spilling the Admiral onto the deck in one tumultuous heap. Hikaru was at her side in half a heartbeat to help her back up, but almost as soon as he got there Misa pushed him away from her. "Don't touch me dammit! I can do it!" She clawed her way along the deck to get back to her chair, and to much to Hikaru's total lack of surprise she found herself completely unable to pull herself back into the seat with the dead weight of her legs pinning her down. "I can do this myself!"

Hikaru moved next to her again to help her back up, and in the effort of pushing him away again Misa collapsed on her face right in front of the wheelchair. She tried for a moment to push herself up again, but when her arms couldn't handle the load she collapsed into tears on the deck. Miko climbed down the ladder from the fighter and came up right beside her father, and the two of them lifted her up into the wheelchair again to take her back home. "Are you alright, mom?" Miko said softly.

Misa took a deep breath and tried to control herself. "It's not fair!" she croaked, embarrassed at her display but sill unable to maintain her own emotions. "It's not fair... I can't even walk on my own..."

Hikaru kissed her forehead and started pushing the chair out of the hanger, back towards their waiting apartment and what would be a hot bath for his wife. He knew what it was that was eating away at her, that bizarre disapproval in herself as if by being injured she had somehow failed her daughter, as if she had somehow dishonored Miko by not being all she thought she was supposed to be. Hikaru's flights with her made her feel inadequate, redundant, as if she was already dead and she didn't even know it. Add to that the fact that she had probably been drinking again this morning during their patrol shift, and the great Admiral Ichijo was now churning in an emotional blender. Hikaru could think of only one other thing that could possibly cheer her up now, but Miko somehow beat him to the punch. "Mommy, how much longer until your legs are better?"

Misa sighed and wiped the tears off her face. It was the kind of question she obsessed over in the long hours she had nothing to do and no other companion but a glass of wine and a TV set. "I'm sorry honey, I don't know."

Miko pressed closer to her mother this time with more urgency. "When your legs are better, could please you make a little brother?"

Hikaru stopped dead in the passageway and both of them stared at her in wonder. "A little brother?!" Misa said amazed.

"Yeah. Sara said a long time ago that you have to make babies between your legs, so when your legs are better can you make one for me?"

"Uhhhh..." It seemed to take Misa and Hikaru both totally off guard, and when they tried to think of something to say they both drew a blank.

"Or you could buy one at the store. That's okay too..." Miko went on shyly.

Misa smiled at her daughter and patted her on the head. "Okay Miko, just for you I'll think about it. As soon as my legs are better, your father and I will get together and we'll make you a little brother or a little sister."

Miko jumped up suddenly. "What?! Really?! I can have a sister?!"

"Maybe... IF you're good."

"Rau-ta!" Miko quickened pace and ran off ahead of them towards the apartment, probably to start thinking up names for what she hoped would be her new little sister.

Misa watched her fly off down the hallway, then looked up at her husband. "Hikaru, what did she just say?"

Hikaru shook his head sharply, signaling her not to ask. "Ignore it, we're hearing things."

"Oh, okay. By the way, I'm still royally pissed at you for taking her on that flight. That was irresponsible and..."

Hikaru smirked at her. "If I bought it on the field, I'd expect you to die of grief anyway."

Misa returned his smirk in kind. "Aw, who needs you? I'd just move on and clone me someone less clumsy."

"You see, I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"I should have just left you in the Grand Cannon."

Misa chuckled. "And then you'd be married to Minmei, and she'd make you give up flying."

"Then I take it back. I should have just STAYED in the Grand Cannon." Hikaru pushed his wife the rest of the way down the corridor where the city block awaited. First he would drop this woman into a hot bath, then he'd message her shoulders for an hour, and then just to make Miko happy, he'd set up the bars in the living room and start teaching Misa how to walk all over again.

--September 3, 2017--  
--03:20 GST--  
The next wave of fighters took off from the Phoenix and the other ships of the fleet against the enemy battle group approaching from high orbit, Lightings escorting heavily armed Electric Valkyries for a massive air strike. Broli was comfortable from here, he could fight this entire battle well out of range of even his most powerful weapons, trading punches with Variable fighters at just beyond the edge of the enemy ships scanner ranges. The inbound fighter wing returning from their mission had reported several direct hits on the flagship and a few other ships with RMS-1 reaction missiles, so the follow-up strikes from the Phoenix would be against the carrier ships with tactical nukes intended to destroy the defensive capabilities of smaller support vessels to clear the way for a second heavy strike with the main weapons. Ideally, the E-Valks would take out the radar and communications towers or even the main bridge of enemy ships, then move on to the mecha hangars and main engines. This would leave them sitting ducks for the final strike wave that would finish the battle for good, assuming of course that reinforcements didn't arrive in the area to help defend the fleet and Broli knew that was more likely than not. "I wonder..." Broli thought, trying to picture the dozens of enemy ships floating in space among the stars, some of them with massive craters in their hulls from nuclear missiles. Something had been bothering him about enemy forces for many weeks now, the fact that they seemed to have thousands of ships to spare even with the Botoru fleet attacking from the opposite flank, but that every time there was an opening they only ever seemed to attack with the minimal numbers of ships. Broli was starting to see a pattern. "Maybe we're overlooking something? They might not have such a huge advantage after all..."

Broli's radar officer almost jumped out of his skin from the data scrolling onto his screen, but before he could open his mouth to utter a warning the entire bridge crew was blinded by the flare of a starship's defold halo barely a hundred meters to port of the them. Next thing anyone knew, there was a Macbeth class command ship alongside them in cruiser mode and two dozen badly damaged cruisers and destroyers that had been part of Imura's 4th fleet when she moved to support Broli's forces at Gulara. Half of them were missing from the formation, all were heavily damaged. The Macbeth itself was pitted and scarred over most of the outer hull and belching fire from small hull breaches that refused to be sealed. From the look of her, Broli would have thought even the Titanic was more space worthy.

The Phoenix's first officer could barely believe what he was seeing, but he wasn't all that surprised when a contact signal came in on the standard frequency. "Sir, the Macbeth's hailing us."

Broli stared at the ship for a moment, then turned to the front of the bridge. "Put it on the main screen." He said flatly.

The holoscreen in front of the command bridge crackled with static from a blown transmitter and then started to clear up once the computers automatically boosted it through. An image appeared on the screen of Captain Imura Elensh standing in a shroud of smoke on the bridge in a blood stained uniform. "Sorry we're late Captain." She said tiredly. "We got alittle tied up at Lina-131."

Broli looked at her for a moment to try and size up the situation. Imura looked like a mess, there was a line of blood running down her face from underneath her cap and one of the sleeves of her jacket was tearing off. And behind her, the command bridge had likewise seen better days; two officers were just putting out an extremely large fire in one of the blown computer consols in the back of the room. "Tied up huh? Are there anymore coming?"

Imura shook her head very slowly. "We're reduced to eleven destroyers and three cruisers, and I've lost all but three fighter squadrons and fifty powered armors. My ship's running on s single reaction furnace and emergency batteries right now and half of my destroyers are actually being towed so..."

Broil looked again at the hulk of the SDF-07 and whistled in amazement. "So you're out of the fight, is what you're saying."

Imura nodded sadly. "A thousand apologies, Captain. I wish there was more we could offer..."

"Don't apologize, Imura, just get home safely. General Hallas is about to join the front with the 6th fleet, so we can take up the slack while you're gone." Broli could see Imura swaying on her feet as if the room was moving around her and she was trying to keep her balance. "Captain... are you okay?"

"Yeah... um..." Imura stared at him, started to say something, then shook her head. "One of my legs is broken. I haven't had time to fix it. Our entire medical staff was killed in the firefight."

"I see. You need a hospital ship to go with you?"

Imura shook her head. "We both know you can't spare any. Most of the crew's in the same boat. Field dressings will have to do until we can put in."

"Alright then." Broli didn't want to close the channel on such a low note, so he pulled up a question he had hoped could wait until later. "Just out of curiosity, how in the hell did you get through that blockade at Lina-131?"

Imura smiled slightly as if the answer was a subject of personal pride. "One of these, if you get me drunk enough, I just might tell you."

Broli smiled slightly. "Sounds good. I have a bottle of Kyshien stored up for just such an occasion."

"Kyshien's okay. Good luck out here, Captain." And she closed the channel again, her ship and fleet powering up fold drives once again for the final trip home.


	4. Chapter 3: Thieves and Vandals

Chapter 3: Thieves and Vandals

--September 18, 2017--  
--14:30 GST--  
The Macbeth's gravity control system was far from fully operational by any standards, and happened to suffer a crippling electrical short at nine hundred feet above the water next to the dock. Everyone on the ship was rattled by the impact, and more than half of the crew was either too tired or two injured to haul themselves up again. Kai Chan and most of his platoon were laid out on the top level of the city block where the macronian barracks were housed, all of them too bruised or just too tired to bother to right themselves. SDF-07's hull was battle scarred and exhausted from it's ordeal on the frontlines, a depressing scene to the crew and assigned pilots; Megaroad City was a welcome sight for their weary eyes to behold. The soldiers counted their blessings to be home, banishing memories and nightmares from the recent defeat at Gulara corridor. Once the crew was offloaded again, the Macbeth was scheduled to be moved to Alpha Factory for a short refit to return the command cruiser to combat status.

Half an hour after the ship splashed down and snuggled up to the warf, the crew started to disembark from the ship in droves, eager to find something less depressing than the sight of their mangled battleship they were leaving behind. Two gangplanks were laid; a small one for the ships micronian crew, and a cargo ramp for the macron mobile infantry. Dozens of human and Zentradi soldiers began to file out of the ship, some leaning on each other tiredly, others actually sleepwalking off the ship to find a soft place to pass out. Kai Chan was the last one out, with a pair of marines walking on either side of him ready to catch each other should they pass out and fall over. "Was that not the longest tour of duty in the history of war?" Kai Chan grumbled.

Sergeant Alako yawned, Lieutenant Beecher just shrugged. "I think I'll be seeing missile spreads in my nightmares now. Those new variable armors they're using are just..."

"I know what you mean." Kai Chan's arms were still sore from almost non-stop battle in his Stormlord armor. Glancing at Beecher he found her in a similar if not worse state, forearms and wrists swollen from the control units of her Queadlunn-Rau. "I can't imagine what this would be like trying to fight them in our old suits."

"Or battlepods, for that matter." Alako interjected. "You saw what happened to that Shiar contingent this summer? When those new fighters showed up over Horace V?"

Borris nodded in remembrance. "They were cut to pieces. Even our own VFs couldn't keep up with them."

Forest scratched his head as a new idea filtered in, "Dey always outnumber us, Skippa. Aint der some way we can add mo' mecha to da ships?"

"You wish." Alako said with a mixture of condescension and regret, "The only way to do that is to shrink the powered armors AND the soldiers, and if we do that the powered armors won't be worth a damn."

_Speaking of which..._ Kai Chan thought with a grin. The resizing chambers were on the other side of the mecha hangar, closer to the medical wing where newly micronized officers received the routine medical checkups with a sensor pod to make sure everything was working properly and no bizarre side effects would manifest. The cloning chambers were lined up against the far bulkhead, and Kai Chan at first started towards them, looking forward to the hour-long transfiguration process...

Something zipped past his head like a ballistic missile; instinct took over and he dove across the hangar around the corner of the huge sliding door. When he looked around the corner again he saw nothing there, but after a moment or two something very small descended before his eyes from directly above, hovered for a moment, then gently dropped to his feet. It was a plump, metallic figure with arms and legs, and a tinted-glass faceplate over a dome of a helmet. Kai Chan recognized it instantly. "Is that what I think it is?"

With the little machine landed on the ground, and the entire upper section of the torso containing the shoulders and helmet opened upwards and hinged back to reveal none other than a highly amused Dr. Varcus in an old UN Spacy flight suit. "One of your curiosities, Mr. Lao. A civilian company picked up the idea last year while you were working on the Stormlord design."

The other soldiers crowded around it, first the squad members from Kai Chan's platoon, but others as well looking over their shoulders. "What the hell is it?" Beecher said, kneeling down to look more carefully.

"PX-150. We're calling it the Apache. It's a prototype based on a design your Captain provided us with."

All eyes turned to Kai Chan, who immediately dropped to his knees and hung his face directly in front of the tiny mecha, "Varcus, what the hell did you do?! The PX-150 was nine meters tall! I never designed any little pipsqueak thing like this!"

Varcus shrugged shyly. "You gave the dimensions for a full-sized mecha, but the mass-ratio you provided was for a much smaller machine than the dimensions would have suggested. R&D assumed you made a mistake, and adjusted the mass ratios to match the size of the mecha, but the resulting performance drop was so dramatic that they decided to keep the ratios and changed the dimensions instead.."

"They WHAT?!" And then it all came back to him: the fateful coffee break during the test phase of the Stormlord Prototype, just three months after Soccoro- Delcaan. Over a ham sandwich and a cup of coffee he had been calculating the mass of one of his own designs on a laptop computer, when a colleague looking over his shoulder had pointed out that the design program had been set to the wrong scale and was calculating ratios for micron sizes. Kai Chan was about to change the settings when a courier entered the cafeteria and handed him his weekly letter from Minmei; he'd lost track of what he was doing, saved the file and turned it into R&D that same day without making the corrections. And the tiny mecha standing in front of him now was the result of this error. "Varcus, do you have any idea how ridiculous that thing looks?"

The Doctor grinned at him, dropped the micro-armor on one knee and climbed out completely. "Looks can be deceiving, Captain."

"You've tried it?"

"I have."

"And?"

Varcus grinned again. "What is it one of your prize fighters used to say? 'Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee.'"

Beecher raised a brow, partly in skepticism but also curious. "Yeah, but a bee sting won't really kill you unless you're allergic."

"Of course, one won't. But two dozen of them..." He gestured with his hand deeper into the hangar, and all of them looked to see an entire row of similar machines lined up against the walls, each linked to a computer terminal running diagnostics on the key systems. Like Varcus' machine, each of them were prototypes, but all of them were fully equipped with a variety of weapon types, some even with new weapons none of them had ever seen before. "Would you like to see for yourself? We have alot of bugs to iron out."

Kai Chan gave it a moment's thought, but the aching in his legs decided for him. "Maybe later. Right now, I just want to shrink down and relax."

All of the other soldiers seemed to agree with that resolution, and moved off towards the cloning chambers in one gargantuan mass.

Varcus watched them as they stepped over and around him, his mission finally accomplished. _The ball's in their court. Now all we have to do is wait for the grunts to pass their verdict._

--17:13 GST--  
Hikaru felt a thousand years old with the swarm of hyperactive creatures darting around at his feet. _Misa should have done this, _he thought,_ She's the one who deals with kids,_ He banished the thought with a knock on the side of his head. Today was his turn and he knew there was nothing he could do about it. What seemed like dozens of kindergarteners came tumbling out at the heals of their older siblings and friends in the higher grade until at last there was Miko, skipping along with a few of her friends jabbering to each other so quickly he was sure even they had no idea what they were saying.

Hikaru approached them with a smile, not wanting to interrupt but not wanting to be waiting here all day for Miko to notice his presence and come over to him. He tried to discretely eaves drop on their conversation... and immediately was stopped at a language barrier. "Te Benny... Kelkasuta zikai de'alma! Hal ayar'deng!" Miko said to the girl behind her with a chuckle.

"Fodants, oyei prankayar lechat!" The girl said, looking over at one of the boys on the other side of the schoolyard with one of his fingers about knuckle deep into his nose. "Te siet kesta!"

All of them laughed, even Miko. Hikaru laughed too, not from the joke but from a sudden urge not to look like a fool in front of his daughter's friends. "Hey Miko, we have to get going now."

Miko remembered and turned back to her friends. "Ju'kai!" She shouted, walking along with her father.

"Ju'kai!" they shouted back, then went back to talking amongst themselves.

Hikaru walked with her for a few steps until they were out of the crowd of small children and the roar of compound chatter where he could actually hear everything she was saying. "Miko, where did you learn to speak Zentradi?"

"In school." She said plainly. "Nobody here speaks English. My teacher speaks alittle Japanese, but I talk to her in Zentradi."

Hikaru was confused. "Yeah but… well of course most of your classmates are protocrans but where in the world did you learn how to talk to them?"

Miko shrugged. "I dunno. I just do."

"Huh. Well what were you talking about with your friends?"

Miko laughed. "Benny's this boy in my class, and he doesn't do anything because he picks his nose and eats his buggers! Shumi says he's gonna pick his brains out one day."

Hikaru laughed, even though he felt older by the minute. Miko was telling him the kind of stories he was too old to remember from his own life, like his own childhood was eons ago, something out of ancient history. "Do they at least teach you how to speak English in your class?" He said, changing the subject.

"Sa."

"What's 'sa'?"

"Sa means sa. Don't you know?"

"I don't speak Zentradi, neither does your mother."

Miko stopped suddenly and stared at him. "You don't? How come?"

Hikaru turned around to look at her. "When I was growing up we'd never even heard of the Zentradi, let alone spoke the language."

It seemed like Miko was having a hard time understanding this, as if some basic understanding about her family had been interrupted somehow. "But mommy's a meltran though."

Hikaru raised a brow. "Who told you that?"

"My friend Shumi told me that Zentradis are soldiers. I said Mommy's in da army, and she said that's because Mom's Meltran and officers are Meltran."

For some reason Hikaru found this amusing, and he wasn't sure why. It reminded him of something his friends used to tell him in pre-school, though with very much the opposite spin. "Well your friend Shumi is wrong. Not all Zentradi are soldiers and not all soldiers are Zentradi. And you, little lady, are many things, but you are NOT a Meltran." Even as he said the words, a part of himself doubted the truth to them. In too many ways, on too many levels, Miko had more in common with most Zentradi than she did with her own parents.

"Oh… You sure?"

"Pretty sure." He said chuckling. "You're a human. Humans come from a planet called Earth. That's where I'm from."

"But I was born on the spaceship. Aren't Zentradis born on spaceships?"

The conversation seemed to have taken a turn for the weird. Hikaru wasn't really sure how to answer her questions in a way that would make sense to a four-year-old. "It's complicated, Miko. It used to be like that for a really long time, but then everything changed and now they haven't figured out what to call everyone yet."

Miko thought about it and seemed to get the idea he was trying to get at. "Okay, but if Mom's not a Meltran, how come she's an officer?"

"Well like I said, not all officers are Meltrans. And because the humans came from Earth before you were born, alot of us are officers too. But don't ever generalize... if you start thinking of entire groups of people as being one thing or another, you'll never really get to know anyone and you might even end up in really bad trouble."

As always, Miko took this to heart and filed it away for later, but for now she had another question, "Dad... Am I a officer yet?"

Hikaru smiled again. "No, you're not an officer."

Miko seemed disappointed by the revelation. "Can I be a officer? Pleaaaaaaase?"

When he thought about it, it made sense that Miko had so much enthusiasm for all things mechanized. The intermixing of Zentradi and humans had been less one-sided than anyone had expected; the Zentradi had been affected be culture, but culture had been just as affected by them. Hikaru both chuckled and grimaced at the thought, _This little girl can't tell the difference between a space battle and a soccer game._ "Tell you what," He knelt down in front of her and looked into her sparkling eyes, "When you finish 7th grade, we'll think about letting you become an officer."

"Really? That's like..." Miko counted the number of years on her fingers and smiled, "That's not long at all! That's like next week!"

Hikaru smiled at her. "Take your time, little bird. By the way, you know we're going back to Gallaron in a few days. Is there something you want while we're in port?"

"Can we visit Aunt Minmei?"

"If there's time."

Miko jumped up excitedly. "Rau'ta! I can't wait to see the babies!"

Hikaru laughed to himself. "Come to think of it, neither can I."

--19:50 GST--  
Misa couldn't tear her eyes away from the tactical plot on the radar screen on the bridge, but every time she looked at it her heart filled with dread. Gallaron's front line was collapsing bit by bit, soon the enemy fleet would be able to push all the way through them to the home world. The orbital fleet was on constant alert and the planetary defense grid had been completed only weeks earlier, but everyone knew that if the final lines fell it would be up to the survivors to make sure Lacul never gained control of the planet for his own purposes. The last resort for Gallaon, if captured, was to send a directive to each city on the globe to overload its reaction furnace and blow itself up, destroying anything nearby that might be of use to the Supervision Army. It was a horrifying possibility, from a scenario the Admiral would prevent at all costs.

But the question facing her now: were they only delaying the inevitable? Could the enemy fleet somehow be halted from its advance long enough for them to build up their forces and truly resist them on equal terms? Gallaron moved fleets of just under a hundred vessels to battle enemy battle groups three and four times their size. She knew this couldn't go on. Something had to be done, she just had to think of something... "Targets." She said at last, the source of her frustration crystallizing in front of her, "They have no strategic targets, only ships and weapons. They control the pace of the battle because they don't have to defend anything." Misa thought about this some more. "That's an advantage, but it's also a weakness. There has to be some way we can exploit it..."

Commander Gashi had been listening to her think out loud for almost half an hour, and now started coming up with ideas of his own. "Perhaps we should intensify attacks on enemy supply lines?"

Misa nodded. "I've considered that... Shikari's already doing so, and we could always ask her to step it up a notch." She looked out the window briefly as hyperspace rippled around the ship. They were only a few days away from their home port at Gallaron, and then she would have a long chat with Varcus about this. "The way they're attacking they must have some kind of base or something nearby, a fixed point from which to launch their attacks. Lacul's fortress is pretty much their mobile headquarters, but it still hasn't moved from Soccoro-Delcaan. There's got to be something else."

"Whatever it is, finding it won't be easy." Gashi pointed out. "There's the possibility of a smaller base ship, sort of a mobile battle station where a field commander can direct a very large fleet. If they have one, I'm sure it's well defended and probably well hidden."

"That's true... I think we'll let Shikari handle this one. If anyone can sniff out an enemy base, she can."

Gashi's control board started flashing, and he took a coded message over the channel from the defense outpost in the Gralla System. "Damn... signal from Gralla station, they've spotted enemy warships in hyperspace."

"Out here?" Misa spun the wheelchair and came up alongside him. "They have a reading on them?"

"Identifying... medium assault fleet, looks like about a hundred vessels, an even mix of cruisers and destroyers with several support frigates. It's headed directly for Gallaron."

Misa felt her skin start to crawl in a cold sweat. The defense network on Gallaron had kept the planet relatively free of harm for over a year now, and steady improvements had brought a still-greater sense of security to all the citizens back home. But even a small fleet as this one penetrating so deeply into Gallaron space was a threat that none of them could stomach. "How did a fleet this size get through the mine fields undetected?"

Gashi shrugged. "My guess is they slipped through when we diverted our reinforcements to the Gulara corridor. There's only one battleship their formation, so they're probably just a sweeper group that got lucky."

"Great." Misa rolled back to the center of the bridge and locked her wheels next to the captain's chair. "Are we close enough to intercept?"

After a short pause, the officer turned back with a grim expression on his face. "Not by a longshot, Admiral. They're taking chances with their folds, so they'll probably get there within the next thirty hours."

Misa sighed. "And we're still two days away."

"Fifty six hours, at present speed." Gashi said. "If we could fold straight there we could head em off, but in this kind of space God only knows where we'd end up."

"I know that." Misa weighed her options, and she decided there was no sense risking her entire fleet or even just her ship to pick off three enemy carriers. She only hoped the defense forces were up to the job. "Signal Alpha Factory and tell them to expect an attack. And have any ships close enough to make it in time head straight for the interception point."

--September 19, 2017--  
--04:50 GST--  
A flash of light and a gravity wave; a Supervision Army command ship defolded into orbit of the supply base on Fodarus-315 with an escort of cruisers and destroyers. Admiral Bennet's battleship was already well en route to the command fortress where Lacul waited to debrief him, but Kraken was several weeks ahead of schedule. He surveyed the assembled fleet in orbit of the planet and the transports going in and out of that massive underground complex on the surface. Almost as soon as the crew started post-fold systems checks, Kraken's monitor crackled on with Lazuli's sullen expression framed by light-years of jet black hair. "We are honored by your presence Kraken. It is good o be fighting under your command sir." 

Kraken tried to resist a gag reaction. The only reason he tolerated Lazuli's sniveling platitude was because she was such an intelligent leader and therefore vital to his own ambitions. "What's the situation on the front Lazuli?" He said curtly.

"The Gulara Corridor has taken its toll sir. We don't currently have enough military strength to continue the advance on this front, but capturing that region of space has given us a strategic advantage once reinforcements become available. It's really just a matter of when we can resume our offensive."

Kraken hung his head sadly. He had expected the need for reinforcements to be high, but Lacul's orders were clear that no reinforcements would be allowed. Even though they didn't have the strength for it, they had no choice but to collapse the enemy lines and still try to capture Gallaron. "I don't think I need to tell you how troublesome the Zentradi usually are. The Botoru fleet on our opposite flank has ten times our numbers, and even though they don't have reaction weaponry they are a very serious threat to our forces. Lacul cannot spare any ships from the Botoru front to assist us in this."

Lazuli looked confused. "Then how are we supposed to…?"

"Thanks to that fool Bennet, we don't have the manpower or the resources to effectively wage war against Gallaron. We outnumber them in ships and mecha, but they make better use of their equipment and at the rate we're going they will force us into retreat. Our only advantage in this battle is that THEY don't know that."

Lazuli raised a brow, considering the idea for the first time. "Then if we can keep them on the defensive…"

"We can find a weakness and exploit it before they have a chance to discover ours. More allied ships are joining us from other parts of the Galaxy, but that won't be enough to tip the scales. And with Gallaron's factory satellites undoubtedly being salvaged in orbit, if we don't capture that planet within the next eighteen months, chance are we never will."

Lazuli nodded. "Then we have to do this quickly. We'll come up with a plan to keep the enemy fleets in sufficient disorder until we can find a way to push through them." Lazuli paused to think, then reminded herself of one other thing. "I should mention to you, sir, that some Gallaron units have begun an offensive campaign of sorts against our forces."

Now it was Kraken's turn to be surprised. "An offensive? Are you sure?"

"They've been raiding the supply lines consistently for the past couple weeks. They're using hit-and-run tactics with mid-sized protoculture destroyers to launch reaction missile attacks, and they've been using some old protoculture colony ships as booby traps for our scout teams."

This he found interesting. There were only a few military minds in this part of the universe with such a penchant for guerilla tactics. Jinai was one of them, Kamjin Kravshera had been another one. Along with a few others he knew to be long dead, Kraken knew the only one known to be affiliated with Gallaron… "That's Shikari's M.O. What's little pipsqueak after this time?"

Lazuli, as usual, saw this as yet another opportunity to earn additional brownie points. "Leave it to me, Kraken. I'll deal with Shikari's fleet, you should concentrate on forcing your way through the Gallaron defenses…"

There was a tiny burst of light in the horizon of the planet from a twin defold in extremely low orbit. Kraken's radar officers watched it for a few moments before identifying both of them as enemy ships, but before any of the Supervision Army warships could even bring their guns to bear against them the two ships each fired off a barrage of reflex missiles straight down towards the surface of the planet, following up with a salvo from their particle cannons at targets on the ground. Several nearby ships finally managed to lock on and fire off a burst or two from their cannons, only to be deflected by the reflex barriers of the two ships. Supervision fighters and attack pods launched from a number of ships around the two, but then the destroyers both launched a second barrage of missiles at the fleet ships around them before disappearing again into hyperspace.

Both missile barrages hit their targets at the same time, with 30 missiles hitting the docks on the ground and 30 others exploding amidst enemy warships for dozens of miles. Kraken didn't bother to give out any orders, just watched the damage reports come rolling in on his monitors. "15 ships destroyed, 23 badly damaged both on the ground and in orbit." Said one of the tactical officers.

Kraken looked at the timepiece next to his chair. "54 seconds... they folded into orbit, fired their missiles, and used fold boosters to escape into hyperspace..." He reopened the channel to Lazuli's flagship and stood up straighter. "Lazuli, take a contingent of warships to the Gallaron front and start probing for weaknesses. I'll handle Shikari myself."

Lazuli almost seemed offended, but her brown-nosing nature kept her from raising any kind of complaint. "As you wish, Kraken."

--18:35 GST--  
Of the larger variety disappointments in her life, Minmei found this one fairly petty and mundane. Once again, Jason wasn't returning her calls. Neither was Sanchez, or Mr. Giovanni her agent. So many plans, so little time, so many more disappointments. She didn't mind single life, and were it not for her two children she would have given up on men altogether. Taosan and Yu weren't getting any younger, and neither was she.

Just shopping now was something of an adventure. Despite her various disguises and alias's every once in a while there was someone who would recognize her and discretely ask for an autograph or have a friend take a picture. Sometimes, she even managed to find someone interesting, either who recognized her or not, who might have made a likely candidate. And every time, something went terribly wrong and she was forced to back out. One of them had actually sold her home phone number to a number of his friends and drinking buddies, which was one of the main reasons she only used a cellular phone to contact people these days.

Shopping today especially was something of a drama. Minmei was wearing overalls and a pair of dark sunglasses, hoping not to have to avoid any of her fans for a change. She had found all the things she needed, diapers and formula for the babies, food and red wine for herself, and a newspaper for no one in particular. And there it was again on the headline, the picture of Gallaron's newest warship the SDF-09 Victory. The cruiser was almost complete now, with final assembly scheduled for the end of the month. The city block had been completed, the weapon systems were being tested, crew members for this great warship were being interviewed already to see who would be most qualified to operate this vessel. But Minmei already knew this ship from her nightmares. They had stopped a few weeks ago, but she could still remember the image of that very ship being slowly blasted to bits in the middle of a battlefield.

It was snowing today, but it wasn't that cold. Ice clung to the sidewalk and people walked along peacefully in Megaroad city with clouds of vapor hovering in front of their faces. Minmei was walking home from the market with a large paper bag in her arms, once again contemplating her next step when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye; someone was behind her, and she felt something sticking into the small of her back. "Don't make a sound, just follow me into that alley over there."

She was about to raise a protest or start screaming for help, but at that moment the air-raid siren started ringing all over the city. In the time it took for a drop of sweat to fall from Minmei's forehead to the ground, everyone out on the streets was scattering in all directions to get to the shelters. In a matter of moments, the streets would be clear, and there wouldn't be any witnesses in case he decided to kill her. "Oh great..." she grumbled to herself. Minmei turned her head slowly and could just see the polished silver of a pistol in his hand, half concealed under the sleeves of his coat. She let the man guide her back around and into a narrow alley behind what looked like an old office building and set the grocery bag down on the ground. The man with the gun stayed back behind her with the gun pressed against her back. Not at all surprising.

"You know the drill. Money and credit card." Minmei pulled out her wallet and handed it back to him, and the man stuffed it into his own pocket. He seemed about ready to move on from here, but then he noticed the bottle of wine in the bag and had second thoughts. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

"Really?" The man pressed the gun harder into her back and put his other hand on her hip. "Take off your clothes."

Minmei's heart skipped a beat. "Oh, c'mon, I gave you my money. Can I go please?"

"Take em off!" The man said impatiently. "You don't wanna die here do you?"

"Don't do this..." Minmei started trembling. This wasn't the first time she'd been mugged before, but it wasn't usually a problem as long as the guy left her alone once he had what he wanted. This man seemed to want something she was not about to give him. "Look, I have two kids at home..."

"Then don't make orphans of them. Strip." Just for emphasis, the man pushed the gun harder against her back.

Minmei searched her memory for something that could get her out of this, something she was probably overlooking. The man's voice sounded familiar, but then again everyone sounds familiar when they're stealing your wallet. In an effort to stall him she dropped down to her knees and started working on one of the straps to the overalls, but in this position she finally remembered. She thought back to the 7th grade... something Kaifun taught her for situations like this... "Oh, now I remember..." she said out loud.

"Remember what?" The man said, growing impatient. "Stop wasting my time, I'm a busy man."

"Okay, just don't hurt me." Minmei knew she needed a distraction, something to get him to turn his head for just a second. There was nothing within reach on the ground, no pebbles or garbage, but there was the sound of what could have been a plane overhead. She only hoped that would do the trick. "Do you hear that? That sounds like..."

"Dammit lady!" The man lost his patience and pushed her face down on the ground. He pressed the gun against the back of her head and started pulling at the straps, but then both of them stopped and looked up as the sound of jet engines suddenly grew louder and louder...

There was a whistling sound, and then a thunderous concussion as the roof of the building next to them exploded. Blasts of fire ripped out of the windows of the top floor, raining broken glass down into the alley around them. Minmei couldn't have asked for a better distraction. "What was it now?" she whispered, thinking back to Kaifun's little trick. "Back..." She shifted her weight back. "Front..." she sprung off one leg and twisted her body in position "Snake..." the man behind her was definitely caught off guard by the move, but before he could react Minmei grabbed onto his hand and threw herself into his body. The sudden shifting of weight caused both of them to fall, but as she had expected, Minmei came up with the gun. He tried to grab it back from her again, but barely managed to get a hand on it before she sprung up to her feet and put some distance between them. "You son of a...!" this was the first time she saw the face of the man who had just mugged her, now she stared in recognition. "Adrian?!"

He stared right back at her, barely recognizing her himself. "Whoa... you're Lynn Minmei!"

There was another explosion, this time from somewhere outside of the city limits. Minmei waited for the rumble of gunpod fire and missile warheads to fade before she said anything else. "I don't believe this! You didn't call me, you didn't write me, you didn't even show up the second time after I called YOU!"

Adrian's jaw was hanging open in disbelief, finally recognizing the context of their previous meeting. "B-but... but I didn't know you were friggin Minmei! You told me your name was Ling Powel and you had on that pink wig and that little rag in your hair..."

"So you wouldn't be trying to rape me if you knew who I was, right?" Minmei walked towards him, keeping the gun leveled at his head. "Gimme my wallet back." Adrian reluctantly pulled out her wallet and handed it to her. "Now gimme yours." Adrian again pulled a wallet out of his pocket and handed it to her. Minmei opened it, took out a slip of paper he had written her number on, along with three thousand Yulins and a breath mint. "This is for making me pay the check at Guacalas, you cheapskate."

Adrian hung his head. "You're going to the police, aren't you?"

"Hell no! I'm going to the press! I want the whole world to know what an asshole you are!" Minmei kept the gun trained on him, then crept back slowly to pick up her groceries. "Now don't you follow me or I'll shoot you!"

"I won't follow you, but I think you should know, there's no bullets in that gun."

Minmei stared at him, took a few steps back, then looked at the gun in her hand. Kai Chan had showed her how to check to see if it was loaded; this one wasn't. "Well... It's mine now!" She backed away from him for a few steps, then turned and ran all the way back to her house. There was another explosion, this time somewhere inside the city. Minmei saw smoke rising into the sky from somewhere else in the city, somewhere in the direction of where her house was. She doubled her pace, running faster than she ever had before. The powered armors and fighter squadrons in the sky were doing an exceptional job of keeping enemy mecha away from the city today, especially considering how many of them usually attacked at one time. As she ran she looked up through the haze of the falling snow to see dozens of trails of vapor circling each other among the clouds, exchanging fire with beam cannons and missiles. Three of the enemy fighter pods above them broke from the formation and dove in towards the city on a suicide run; a VF-4 Lighting swooped in to pick them off with four gunpods firing under its wings and both laser cannons training on the targets. All three pods went down at almost the same time, leaving only scattering debris falling harmlessly on the outskirts of the city.

By the time Minmei got back to her house, the battle in the sky was winding down, but the air raid sirens were still to wailing and the emergency systems were broadcasting warnings on the city's PA system, "Your attention please: an emergency has been declared for this area. For your own protection, all civilians are to report to the nearest hardened bomb shelter, and remain there until further notice..." The message repeated again and again, alternating between English, Spanish and Zentradi. She didn't need to know any of the details to understand the deeper meaning of what was going on. _Ground troops,_ she thought with a pulse of anxiety, _Is it an invasion?_

Pris was already gathering the twins when Minmei opened the door, one child in each arm with a diaper bag over her shoulder. "Just in time! I don't have the keys to your car!"

Minmei pulled the keys from her coat pocket, took Taosan off her hands to free one arm and handed her the keys and the empty gun. "Hold onto this for me..."

Priss eyed the pistol suspiciously and chuckled. "I get the feeling there's a story behind this."

"Yep... start the car, I'll just be a minute." Pris disappeared through the front door carrying Yu while Minmei carried Taosan through to the back kitchen, finding in the refrigerator door small plastic cooler she always kept loaded with supplies for just such an emergency. She hung the cooler on her opposite shoulder, grabbed Taosan's favorite toy from it's usual spot on the floor by the table, and scooped up her address book from the desk on her way out. She didn't bother to lock the door, but sprinted across the lawn to the car and dropped and highly perplexed Taosan into his car seat next to his always complacent brother. Pris was already in the passenger seat, Minmei took the wheel and the car sped off.

Another explosion cracked the air above them like a whip, a burst of fire crossing the air between a VF-1 Valkyrie and a pair of Supervision Army powered armors. One stray shot zipped from the sky and hit the rooftop of a building as they passed it, but Minmei didn't take the chance to stop and look. Fei Chan's restaurant was still a few blocks away. "Do me a favor, Priss," She handed the younger girl the address book, "Look up Adrian Flores and scratch his name out for me."


	5. Chapter 4: City on Fire

Chapter 4: City on Fire

--September 19, 2019--  
--19:50 GST--  
Ever since their arrival in Gallaron space, Dr. Varcus had done exhaustive research to assess the combative potential of the ancient protoculture colony vessels. His research had shown that as frontline vessels they had no potential whatsoever, but they did have other advantages, most notably size and power. Each of the five larger colony vessels in Gallaron orbit was nearly fifteen kilometers long, and modifying such immense hulls for defensive combat had been a project almost as extensive as repairing the factory satellites themselves. Three of the five had taken up their positions in orbit, each surrounded by a formation of nearly a two dozen Thor class destroyers, Zentradi cruisers, and a small fleet of ARMD carriers constructed at Alpha Factory for a dime a dozen. As the enemy strike fleet folded in low orbit of Kaderak-I, Fleet Admiral Gabrek had the entire tactical plot stretched out before him in the central nerve center of the first colony ship, now codenamed "Siren-1." Dr. Varcus was directing the primary defense from his command center in Alpha Factory, but Gabrek couldn't help but feel as though he alone were the heart and soul of the defense fleet here. "Tactical, send the fourth and second destroyer groups to counteract enemy movements. Launch all fighters in support."

The order was relayed to the appropriate commanders of the appropriate ships, and the defense fleet began to move. Siren-1's destroyers pulled away into the distance, covered by the fleet of ARMD carriers around them and joining up with the destroyer formations from Siren-2 and Alpha Factory to intercept the enemy fleet. Several small fighter carriers had already slipped past them to attack ground targets, but thus far the main force had not come much farther than the first moon. Until now.

ARMD-034 was alongside the leading destroyer of the formation, her fighters launching into space even as the enemy fleet began to come into range. The ship's Captain was anything but a military officer; Dumo Sekkai's position was a political one, thrown into combat by one particular member of the Elder's Council as an attempt to silence her criticism of his policies and corruption. Here in space, facing enemy guns, she almost began to miss the nauseating dance of self-serving politicians. "Forward missile tubes, prepare to fire reaction missiles on my command. Forward guns, select targets now."

"Commander Sekkai, we have a reading on the enemy fleet. Twenty cruisers, thirty destroyers, forty five scout frigates and several support vessels. Range, one hundred and twenty thousand..." Her first officer's screen lit up with a galaxy of red lights and the computer's radiation alarm clicked on, "First wave of fighter squadrons is now engaging the enemy. Reaction missile salvo... 30% effectiveness."

Sekkai didn't expect the fighters would have much effect against their fleet. She had read through thousands of pages of frontline reports to know that groups like this usually hid behind a wall of battle mecha to screen enemy fighters while the battleships slugged it out. But something about their disposition in itself made her very nervous, _Their formation is weird. It's alot different from the last time, _"Missile batteries, target the enemy scout ships on the left flank. Fire when ready."

ARMD-034's missile tubes flared in brilliance and fired their payloads into space in sequence like a gigantic cannon. Six missiles launched from the carrier, joined by salvos from the other vessels nearby and the squadron of destroyers they had come to protect. In one massive volley they converged on the Supervision fleet as their defense lasers opened fire; half of the barrage was intercepted by enemy lasers, the other half hitting the targets directly and delivering the full force of their damage into the hulls. A dozen of the smaller scout frigates were blown to bits in the first attack, and several of the larger cruisers and destroyers were smashed in the shockwaves of reflex energy burning through their armor.

A new group of warships charged through the chaos and returned fire with forward cannons, adding a spread of missiles to the attack even as the Gallaron ships fired their second salvo. The exchange of fire from both sides passed each other in space in a simultaneous blow, and three of the Gallaron destroyers in front of the formation were caught by reaction missiles with barriers down, instantly vanishing into clouds of debris. The ARMD carriers were more maneuverable; most of them managed to evade the fire from the enemy missiles and cannons, but just the sheer volume of enemy fire cut down a half dozen vessels just the one barrage.

ARMD-034 fired its thrusters and strafed to one side from a salvo from a cruiser's guns, but the two ships behind it were less lucky; one of them took several direct hits in its hull and began to break apart, the one behind it taking a heavy laser in one of its engines and knocked into a spin. Sekkai felt the surge of acceleration as the thrusters fired again, moving the ship to evade yet another attack from the cruisers. "Forget about the small fries, focus all firepower on the heavy cruisers to the front!" The carrier's forward cannons fired on command, joining in with the guns of the destroyers behind her taking the same target. Most of their fire glanced off the cruiser's energy shield, but a single reaction missile from one of the Valkyries smashed into it from the rear and the ship's engines immediately failed.

Far behind the main group, Sekkai's tactical plot registered an energy spike and the viewscreen changed to show her. Three of the Supervision cruisers had opened their main cannons and were preparing to fire. She tapped the little button on her headset and called out on an general frequency, "034 to all units, enemy cruisers are preparing to fire main cannons! Shoot them down before they can fire!"

The Valkyrie units were the quickest to respond, followed in short order by the ARMD carriers and the destroyers among them. Yet even as they directed their firepower into the enemy cruisers behind the enemy fleet, the warships closer to them intensified their firing and cut into the heart of their formation as they came close. Six more ARMD carriers erupted in fireballs, with the destroyers struggling to deflect enemy reaction missiles with reflex barriers. Six more cruisers opened their main cannons and charged up to fire, and several of the destroyers moved forward to replace their guns. ARMD-034 fired all four cannons into the hull of one of the charging cruisers, but a return fire from its escorting destroyers smashed into her pinpoint barriers, rattling the entire vessel from stem to stern with the impact. "Target missiles towards that cruiser!" She shouted even as the deck pitched beneath her, "Hit it with everything we've got!"

This time when the missiles fired, the laser turrets from the enemy ships cut down three of them before they were even close to the Supervision vessels. Two others detonated prematurely in the midst of the enemy fleet, but one slipped through the defenses and scored a direct hit. The stricken cruiser rolled half over to one side as the energy wave ripped open its hull, then erupted in a tremendous fireball as its capacitors released their destructive energy into space. The other two cruisers with the same formation were not deterred; both of them aligned themselves, and their cannons fired.

Half of the ARMD carriers used thrusters to evade, the other half directed their pinpoint barriers forward in a vain attempt to deflect the enemy cannons. The destroyers among them switched to reflex barriers as the force of the cannons brushed them aside, but as soon as the devastating salvo unleashed from the cruisers, the target of the enemy ships became suddenly apparent.

Thousands of kilometers behind them in geo-stationary orbit, the point barrier operators of Siren-1 directed all ten of the shields to deflect the attacks, but to no avail; the firepower overwhelmed the giant colony ship and tore into its hull, vaporizing a massive section of its hull and sending the bulk of it tumbling in space. At least by now Siren-2 and -3 were entering firing range with reinforcements, but the damage had already been done. The destroyer groups were in disarray, the command ship was dead in space, and the Supervision Army took it upon themselves to exploit their newfound advantage.

And now, finally, their trump card was played. Sekkai's radar screen lit up with a cluster of new blips as a second, small group of enemy vessels emerged from a hyperpace fold at a dangerously low orbit of the planet. They were mainly transport vessels, poorly armed and highly un-maneuverable, but from their position they could land a sizeable ground force on the planet's surface before the defense forces could do anything about it. This was not an invasion fleet. This was a "death raid."

Even if they could have turned back now, the Supervision fleet in front of the GSDF defense forces were already locked into close combat with their foes. Two frigates rushed past ARMD-034 before the crew realized what had happened, but the next two fell victim to the carrier's guns as it joined a barrage with a two other vessels a kilometer behind them. When she looked around now, the Supervision Fleet was right on top of them, giving little regard to the defenders and rushing towards the planet below with almost suicidal alacrity to support the troop transports that had just de-folded there. The strategy was simple enough; even if their fleet didn't make it to low orbit to support the landing unit, they would surely tie up the defenders in orbit long enough for the drop forces to do their jobs. Whatever the GSDF did next, it would have to be done very quickly.

Sekkai checked the control panel in front of her command chair and cursed under her breath. SDD-059 had been destroyed, and so far no one had stepped up to take command. "This Commander Sekkai of 034: all units, fall back to new coordinates to regroup for a counter attack. We have to coordinate the next run with Sirens-2 and -3. All units please comply..."

--24:24 GST--  
Another squadron of Valkyries arrived over the city at almost the same instant the next wave of Supervision reentry pods appeared on the horizon. The destroid battalions on the ground opened fire as soon as the pods became visible, with the four Destroid Monsters on the corner of the city filling the sky with flak from their cannons and missiles. Several of the reentry pods took direct hits and started a fiery descent, but a few others managed to release their payloads before taking hits and pull up again out of range of ground fire. Squadron after squadron of Supervision battlepods filled the air above the Megaroad City, but among them were scores of micronian infantry riding anti-gravs to the surface near the outskirts of the city. A wave of fighter pods passed over the reentry pods and dove in to attack the destroids on the ground, but the Valkyries pounced on them immediately, cutting into their formations with gunpods and micro missiles and drawing every one of them back into aerial combat. 

Almost a hundred miles above the city, a group of Supervision reentry pods began to descend from directly above, appearing on the city's defense center radar for the first time. Their response was without delay; dozens of armored plates beneath the streets of Megaroad City opened for the first time and the particle cannons hidden there rose into being, each the size of a small house, pointing their barrels into the sky as the first enemy warships came into range. More than forty cannons throughout the city opened fire at once, lighting sky with the radiance of their cannons and striking half of the reentry pods with a single salvo. The remainder of the formation maneuvered in an effort to escape the kill zone, only to be blown apart by the second salvo only seconds after the first.

The bomb shelter at King Lao's Chinese Restaurant wasn't especially crowded despite the suddenness of the attack. Thirty people had crammed into a hyper-carbon bunker designed to hold well over fifty. Half of these here were customers who had come to the restaurant during their lunch breaks for takeout, the other half were employees with the restaurant still dressed in aprons and smocks. Minmei and the twins were huddled into a corner with Pris and two other children, with Minmei humming a tune to keep the younger ones calm despite the sounds of gunfire and explosions erupting in the distance. There was a long moment of calm, them a powerful explosion shook the entire shelter and the lights flickered from the force of it. Taosan squeaked as a final warning that he was about to start another round of explosive crying, but Minmei countered the boy with a dance of her fingers across his forehead. Taosan grabbed her index finger and stuck it into his mouth.

There was another impact in the distance, this time the sound of something hitting the ground as opposed to an explosion. Minmei guessed correctly that a variable fighter or powered armor had landed less than gracefully on one of the buildings down the street. "We've had raids before, but never this intense." She said, more to herself than anyone.

Pris nodded in agreement. "The defense forces usually clean them up after an hour or two. You think something went wrong?"

Minmei shrugged. "The enemy gets lucky sometimes. Maybe they saw something we missed?"

Pris sighed and slouched even lower against the hyper carbon walls. "This sucks. And I'm startin to get hungry."

"Me too... although with this air raid going on I feel like I could use a drink."

"Me too." Pris said, and all at once Minmei glared at her questioningly, "What?"

"It just occurred to me, you've been babysitting for me since April, but never told me... How old are you, anyway?"

Pris shifted awkwardly where she sat, trying on her best look of sincerity. "Eighteen."

Minmei raised a brow. "Try again."

Pris blushed. "Sixteen."

"Keep going."

"Uh... fifteen and a half." Minmei stared at her for half a minute, and finally Pris threw her arms up in defeat. "Okay, I'll be fifteen next week! You happy now?"

Minmei smiled. "Babysitters are usually earning money for something. What's your big goal?"

Pris rubbed herself on the temples as if trying to block Minmei's mind-reading. "To be honest, I've always wanted to be an artist, like Picasso or Van Gouge or something. I'm pretty good now, but during the school year I sent in some paintings I did to an art dealer and he said that I had alot of potential, but I needed some work. So..."

"You're trying to get into an art academy?"

"Yep."

"How much is your tuition?"

Pris sighed, "Alot." The ground shuddered from a distant impact as if to underscore her point.

"How much?" Minmei said again.

"Three hundred thousand Yulins for each nine-week term. And since I've been working for you, I'm only about halfway there. I think I might just get a loan or something."

Minmei smiled. "Don't worry about a loan. I'll spot you the other half."

Pris looked at her in surprise. "What? Oh... no, no, that's okay..."

"Pris, never turn down the kindness of strangers."

"But you can't afford that! You work two jobs and you have two kids to support!"

"Three hundred thousand is nothing to me. That's about three months royalties from my album sales."

Now she was confused. For the past several months Pris had seen her employer highly strapped for cash, always in debt, always worried about finances and how she could make ends meet the following month. Somehow it didn't add up. "If you're making all that money, how come you work such long hours?"

That took some explaining, but Minmei decided there was no harm in letting the cat out of the bag for just one person, "Well the truth is..."

She was about to explain her secret plan when the large metal door near the stairs opened and Fei Chan climbed down with a box of emergency rations. For just the few moments the door was open, Minmei heard what sounded like intense gunfire just beyond the doors of the restaurant. "They just gave a report on the radio," He said as he came down, "They got past the orbital fleet and dropped a host of fighters and troops, then they scattered into orbit and made a run for it. It's not really an invasion, but there's a huge force on the surface just south of the city.

One of the Zentradi customers on the other side of the room stood up slowly and started for the door. "I've seen this before. They'll try and capture the city and dig in so we can't remove them without destroying it. It's just a tactic they use to tie up resources. We call it a Death Raid."

"Where are you going?" Fei Chan said as the man unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"I left my jeep parked around the corner. I've got a couple of pulse rifles in the trunk I wanna bring back here."

"What good will that do?" Someone else asked.

"Because they if they want to take control of the city, they'll definitely lead with infantry. We need to be ready in case they get inside." Another Zentradi customer followed him out, and the two of them closed the doors back as they left.

Minmei shuffled through her purse for a few moments and Fei Chan read her actions; he tapped her on the shoulder and handed her Adrian's pistol. "I found some spare ammo upstairs. You have to take off the safety to fire it."

"Yeah... thanks..." Minmei stared at it for a long moment before she could even bring herself to touch it. The last time she had held a gun was in fear for her life at a meeting with her estranged husband. She hadn't intended to use it then, but the fact of having it with her had given her just a little more security... but this time, the threat to her life and family was not a possibility, but a certainty, and now the reality set in that very soon she might have to use this gun to kill one of her enemies. She checked the clip and grimaced again; there were fifteen bullets, all of them with armor-piercing tips. "I hate guns." She grumbled, tucking the pistol into her jacket pocket.

--25:35 GST--  
ARMD-034 fired off a spread of reaction missiles just a split second before the burst of cannon fire ripped open the starboard hangar and knocked the ship halfway on its side. The missiles themselves skipped over the very top of Gallaron's atmosphere before slamming into the engines of the enemy frigate, detonating against the un-armored engine nozzles and ripping the entire vessel apart from the force of energy. In the same moment her forward guns fired into the upper atmosphere just beneath the, striking at another formation of reentry pods as it descended into the atmosphere towards the drop point far below. The three frigates behind her were still firing away with their smaller particle cannons, and now the carrier was starting to feel the effects of it.

The enemy cruisers had all been defeated in the counter attack from Siren-2 and -3, but the destroyer squadrons of the same fleet had entered low orbit and had begun deploying reentry pods to the planet surface in five different locations. In Megaroad City alone, a force of more than two thousand troops had been deployed, with just under half of that consisting of combat mecha deployed to secure the airspace of the city. The defenders had so far managed to maintain a line around the city to keep enemies out of it, but Sekkai knew from the reports that Supervision Army units would stubbornly hold their position once they had finally captured it.

The largest formation of enemy ships was up ahead, but the smaller group behind her still persisted. ARMD-051 and 058 were right behind her ship, flying backwards in space and firing into the face of the enemy with their forward cannons, salvo after salvo. A quick exchange between them, and two of the frigates came apart at the seams. "Enemy pursuit is dropping, Commander." Her first officer announced with a note of relief. "And... tactical reports the destroyer Harima with ARMD-021 and 028 are moving to back us up."

"Excellent. Engines, all ahead full!"

Her helmsman flinched at the request, not sure if he had heard right. "You want us to charge the enemy?"

"Just do it! Standby a spread of reaction missiles, set for a blind pattern. Forward guns, pick your targets now and standby for manual firing!"

The Fire Control officer swallowed hard and checked his targets, predicting the Commander's intentions and guessing ahead of time where the ships would be when the missiles went off. "We're standing by sir, but..." The group of frigates ahead of them opened fire as they came into range, guarding a pair of destroyers deploying fighter pods and reentry pods into Gallaron's atmosphere. All ten of them fired in a single barrage as the carrier came close, part of the barrage catching ARMD-051 and destroying it in space before the crew even knew what was happening. "Sir, what happens if we don't get them on the first pass?" The first officer said nervously.

"That would not be good. Make sure you don't miss any, we won't have time for a second."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"Fire missile spread! Forward guns, fire at will!"

ARMD-034 fired off yet another series of missiles, a spread of six warheads set amongst the enemy in a pattern designed to confuse them. Two of the frigates were destroyed by the detonations, the others split from their formation in an evasive maneuver, moving them directly into the path of Sekkai's guns. All five of the carrier's turrets scored hits on the first frigate, and a series of explosions rippled across the hull as the particle cannons tore into it. ARMD-058 added its own firepower to the barrage, along with the two carriers and the destroyer behind them. The crossfire of particle cannons and missiles left the Supervision destroyers suddenly defenseless, but the moment their escort unit had fallen, the destroyers opened fire with everything in their arsenal...

A blinding column of light burst out from the horizon, skipping just over the edge of the upper atmosphere and sweeping across the hulls of the Supervision destroyers, along with the surviving frigates nearby. All of them lingered for a few moments as their hulls crumbled from the power of it, then in a flash every one of them erupted into fireballs and scattered into dust before them. The larger beam was followed by a hundred smaller ones from the same source, striking down all the remaining enemies in high and low orbit until, in a matter of minutes, the enemy fleet had been reduced to spinning wreckage.

Sekkai's monitor flashed a new image, combining an audio message with a magnified close-up of SDF-04 and its escort fleet. "This is Admiral Hayase, I'm assuming command of the 1st Defense Squadron. All orbital targets have been suppressed, but there's a large number of enemies down on the surface. Launch all remaining mecha to support ground defenses."

_That's a welcome surprise. _"You heard the Admiral." Sekkai said triumphantly, "I want all fighters re-armed and sent back immediately! Let's give them some help down there!"

--26:10 GST--  
"There's two more on the roof!!" Fei Huang shouted over his shoulder just as the two soldiers opened fire. A burst of laser fire pelted the frame of the pickup truck he was hiding behind, one pulse actually punching through the metal and melting it all the way through with a burst of sparks. Fei Huang ducked down and covered his head for a moment, until he realized in embarrassment that if any of them were to shoot him in the head, his hands would offer as much protection as a baseball cap.

Fei Chan appeared next to him with an old M-16 rifle in hand, dropping box of cartridges on the ground between them. Fei Huang had parked his pickup truck half up on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant's front door before the Supervision infantry appeared and began the shooting; for the past hour their numbers had not seemed to increase or decrease in any way. "This is fun..." He muttered sarcastically, reloading the shotgun again, "How do you suppose they got in here? The defense line hasn't moved back at all."

Fei Huang loaded his gun along with him, shrugging at the question. "They must have dropped out of the sky or something." Fei Huang poked his head up for a moment, just in time to see a half squad of soldiers come around the corner with laser rifles already aimed in his direction. He held down the trigger and fired a long burst before they saw him, raking them with fire and dropping the first three at once. Fei Chan took the second three with one shot each, and the two Zentadi customers in the window behind them fired pulse at the supervision soldiers in the rooftop. "These guys sure are sluggish... it's like they're in a daze or something."

"What do you expect, Huang? They're like an army of goddamn robots. They don't even think for themselves." Four enemy soldiers came around the corner and ducked down behind a car across the street; one of the Zentradi put a laser pulse right between the first one's eyes, Fei Chan and Fei Huang took the other two with a quick burst while the last one managed to drop down out of sight in time. For just the briefest moment there was a pause in the gunfire, and Fei Chan heard something else in the background playing on the P.A. system, "Minmei's music... no wonder they're so sluggish! They react to the music and it slows them down like snails!"

There was a strange whistling sound in the air around them, and after a long moment Fei Huang recognized the sound from memory, grabbed his brother and half-shoved, half threw him through the front door into the restaurant just as the blast of a pulse cannon exploded through the bed of his pickup truck. The cannon reduced the truck to little more than a cloud of free ions, but the next series of pulses from the same weapon hit the wall of the restaurant just above it. A curtain of flame swept through the restaurant, and a tremor knocked everyone off their feet as the entire eastern section of the building collapsed in on itself.

A thousand eternities passed before Fei Chan managed to stand up, shook the dizziness from his head and looked around to examine what was left of his prized restaurant. The roof over the lobby had caved on, and most of the dining area was engulfed in flame. One of the Zentradi customers was nowhere in sight, the other was a few feet away from him along with two waiters and the cashier, all of them still clutching pulse rifles as they came to their senses. And when he looked again, he saw Fei Huang on the ground next to him, lying on his back, staring lifeless at the ceiling, with a ten-inch slab of jagged metal deeply embedded in his throat. He stared at his brother for almost a full minute, then in a final gesture of affection, patted him on the chest. "Long live the kings." A rhythmic pounding shook the restaurant from the footsteps of the battlepods that had fired on them passed, surveying the damage for few moments time... then a series of rapid impacts and a smaller explosion as a Valkyrie's gunpod cut the battlepod down where it stood.

Fei Chan threw open the doors to the shelter and his blood froze in his veins. An entire section of the shelter had caved in from the impact. Half the people sheltering in there had been buried alive, the other half cowered in a corner of the room just short of hysterics. "Everybody out!" He shouted, not stopping to take a count of who was left, "We're going to the larger shelters in the Old City! We're gonna have to make a run for it!"

The people hiding below didn't seem to give it a second thought; in a matter of moments, all ten people remaining below scrambled up the stairs and dashed through the smoke into the relative safety of the kitchen. Minmei and Pris were the last two out; Fei Chan felt a wave of relief to see both her and the twins unharmed. "C'mon we're gonna take the tunnels."

"Fei Chan, you can't get to the tunnels from this part of the city! The nearest junction is four blocks from here!"

"Well we can't stay HERE! Their infantry's moving in and they're not taking any prisoners! If we're lucky we can hotwire a car or something!" He shoved Minmei through the door into the kitchen, then rushed past the others to the back door and kicked it open. Everyone inside sprinted out as fast as their legs could carry them...

A salvo from a trio of laser rifles flashed into the midst of them as soon as they emerged. Two of the customers took shots in the chest, one of the waitresses dove for the concrete just before a laser pulse would have burned through her face. Fei Chan leapt through the doorway and fired a spraying burst at the two of them, hitting one with the burst and forcing the others to duck for cover behind a dumpster in the corner of the alley. After a moment they both emerged again and started to fire, but a burst of laser fire from the rooftop across the street caught both of them from a blindside and ended their fight. Fei Chan looked in that direction to see two men in brightly decorated robes with with long spear-like weapons in their hands. He recognized them immediately as protocran hunters, with the five-foot long staff-rifles their weapons of choice. In the two seconds he watched them, both leapt from the top of the building across the alley to the next rooftop, jumping from building to building and firing down at enemy soldiers as they went.

The group of survivors took to the streets in a sprint, single file on the sidewalk along a row of shops towards the service tunnels of the Old City, now only three blocks distant. Minmei carried Taosan under her arm as she ran, with Pris holding Yu like a sack of potatoes trying to keep pace with the others. Even as they ran, a host of enemy soldiers followed on foot, marching/jogging after in a lackluster attempt to keep pace with them. The Old City came closer with every second, every step felt like a victory against the enemies hunting them... two blocks to go... a block and a half... just one block away...

Around the corner at the next intersection was a wall of enemy troops, a platoon sized unit marching in a search pattern for the city's defense command center. The instant the civilians came into the intersection, they found themselves suddenly poised in front of an oversized firing squad; all of them stopped and sprinted back in reflex as a phalanx of laser rifles fired into the midst of them. Minmei and Fei Chan managed to dive back around the corner, but Pris was barely three feet short of safety when a laser pulse bored into the side of her head and burned completely through her skull. She died on her feet, flopping to the ground like a rag doll; by some miracle Fei Chan managed to reach out and snatch Yu from her hands before she could land on top of him. The sound of the enemy troops marching around the corner filled their ears, and in a panic reaction Minmei and Fei Chan and the six civilians left alive turned and ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

They didn't get far.

Half a block down the street, Minmei felt a burst of pain in the back of her thigh as if someone had just set her leg on fire. She stumbled and started to fall, but one of the waitresses reached back and caught her before she could fully hit the ground. For just a moment he stopped in confusion, and for a split second she had just enough time to weigh her options and think of what to do next. She could feel blood running down her legs and pooling in the soles of her shoes; she wouldn't make it far. Shoving Taosan into her arms, she pulled the pistol from her jacket and shouted into the woman's ear, "Find a place to hide! Keep them safe!"

Fei Chan looked around for a split second and ducked around the corner into an alley, gesturing for the others to follow him. Minmei staggered along with the others, somehow keeping pace, even as the soldiers began to fill the air around them with laser pulses from rifles and pistols alike. Fei Chan kicked open the window of one of the basement apartments and dropped both of the twins into the building as carefully as he could, then baseball-slid into it himself and held the window open for the others. The waitress who had carried Taosan was just about to crouch down herself and duck inside when the first of the enemy platoon came around the corner and started to fire. Minmei and two of the men aimed with their pistols and fired back. The first soldier fell in his place, but a dozen more came around the same corner and all fired at once.

It was over in seconds. The combined salvo from the twenty rifles simply mowed them down. By pure chance, Minmei was the last one standing; Fei Chan watched utterly helpless as the pulse rifles cut even her down, five shots one after another punching holes in her chest and legs. She slumped to the concrete a trembling mass, and without so much as a comment the enemy soldiers resumed their march, some back down the street, some marching down the alley in search of more civilians...

A low rumble in the distance caught his attention, and clearly the attentions of the enemy soldiers as well. For a moment they stood perplexed at the nature of the approaching sound, then as it became clear all of them turned and ran for cover. But their reaction was too late; the angry roar of GU-11 gunpod filled the air, and a rain of shells cut across the alley, tearing down the enemy soldiers well short of where Minmei was lying. Fei Chan poked his head out of the basement window just as a blast of hot air rushed inwards from the exhaust of a variable fighter. Looking up, he recognized both machine and markings, a VF-4 Lighting in gerwalk mode painted in the orange and white scheme of a training squadron. In a moment the sky filled with variable fighters, swooping down on the city in gerwalk mode and strafing enemy soldiers in the ground wherever they could be found. Dropships appeared overhead right behind them, Marines lowering on ropes to the street level with pulse rifles and grenade launchers.

Fei Chan scrambled out of the same window through which he had come, kneeling beside Minmei with trembling hands. The Lightning lowered its cockpit to the street and Kai Chan climbed out to join them, kneeling along with them with a stunned expression in his eyes. "Minmei..." He said, tearing away her shirt to examine the wound.

"Kai..." Here eyes were shifty, her breathing shallow, "Wh-When did you get back? It's a real mess here..."

"Don't talk! Just try to stay alive!" At a glance, the laser rifle had cauterized the wounds, but one hit in her chest was wide open and spilling her lifeblood on the concrete beneath her. Her face was already beginning to look pale, and a pool was forming under her shoulders. "Hold on, Minmei, we'll take you to a hospital okay?"

She turned her head slowly to the side and looked at the basement window. Taosan and Yu were both there, staring at her, their eyes barely clearing the bottom of the window from the shelf they had climbed on to see her. She smiled pleasantly to see them both perfectly alright. Then her eyes closed.

Fei Chan heard footsteps behind them and spun around in surprise; the two men in colored robes he had seen before, still carrying the protocran war spears in their hands, stood above them and looked down at Minmei with an expression of sadness, then up at Kai Chan in recognition. "Captain Lao,"

"Dumo Gokaran." Hikaru didn't even miss a beat. "I don't mean to inconvenience you, but I think we'll be needing your sister's services again."

The two men looked at each other, then back at Minmei. "I do believe she would be honored."


	6. Chapter 5: Taosan and Yu

Chapter 5: Taosan and Yu

--October 21, 2017--  
--07:40 GST--  
There was a chorus of laughter over the comm lines of the entire Supervision fleet along the Botoru front where their ships were trading punches with Zentradi forces in massive engagements with reflex missiles and gunship barrages. Almost every engagement ended in victory for the Supervision Army, but that didn't change the fact that the Zentradi outnumbered them more than ten to one. But still there was laughter, and most of it was directed inwards towards the news from the Gallaron front. Sarride was leading the jests this evening on her command ship. "You'd think he didn't even see it coming! That damned fool…" Sarride said, still collecting herself from a round of laughter.

Kong and Kraso were laughing right along with her, even with half of their respective fleets heavily engaged with enemy ships at this very moment. "Kraken certainly seems to be loosing his touch." Kraso said, his voice saturated with false sympathy.

Kong snickered. "How many ships did the enemy have? Three, four destroyers? You think maybe we're asking too much out of him?"

Sarride laughed again. "Hey, it's not his fault! He just doesn't function as well without Lacul's fingers up his ass every second of his life…"

Kong and Kraso burst into laughter again, and then a new communication window opened on the command bridge of each of their ships showing a still grumpy Admiral Sam Bennet on the bridge of his own battleship somewhere far behind the Botoru line. "Sarride, I have an urgent message from His Lordship Lacul for you and Commander Sarron."

"Oh really?" Sarride still had trouble taking Bennet seriously, and even more trouble trusting him with anything important knowing his devious nature to be the same as Sarron's. "Well then, what does His Lordship want with us now? Does he miss his favorite hand puppet and need somewhere to stick his fingers?"

Bennet snickered. "You know he'd be displeased to hear you talk like that."

Sarride shrugged. "You're more than welcome to tell him. Anyway, what do you have for me?"

Bennet looked at one of the monitors and read off the orders he'd been asked to relay. "We've been hearing rumors about one of the planets in the Kaladan system from captured protoculture ships. Lacul believes one of them might actually be Vorhalas."

Sarride's heart skipped a beat and her palms started to sweat. "Vorhalas? I… he does know how I feel about this doesn't he?"

To no one's surprise, Bennet didn't understand her reaction. "About what Sarride? You have a problem with this Vorhalas place?"

Sarride took a deep breath and steadied herself on the bridge, not wanting to show weakness in front of the others. "No problem, I just don't feel comfortable with… well what does he want from me anyway? He wants me to confirm the identity of this planet for him?"

Bennet looked at her curiously, certain that there was something else going on here he was almost totally unaware of. He knew it was none of his business, but somehow he felt an insatiable urge to know more. "I understand you don't feel comfortable around Sarron…"

"No shit Bennet."

"… so if you would prefer, I could accompany you on the operation to secure the planet."

Sarride would defiantly prefer a cocky Bennet over that meddling Sarron any day. "Lacul won't like it. Kaladan is very close to the left flank of the Gallaron front. I could use the support to help secure the planet but…"

"Lacul won't care as long as I don't engage in frontline combat. I'll only act as a landing force and I'll leave orbital defense up to you."

Sarride nodded. "Sounds reasonable…"

"But I would like to know what's going on here. What's this Vorhalas place anyway?"

Sarride passed orders on to her navigation officers to make a fold jump to the Kaladan system, then turned back to the monitors. "Bennet my friend, I'll explain everything IF this planet really does turn out to be Vorhalas."

--11:45 GST--  
The last thing any commander of any space fleet wants is a large scale ground battle. Though it may seem safer to battle in an atmosphere close to the ground where Mecha might have and advantage and ships could better sustain damages, it is actually more trouble than it's worth. Shikari knew this better than most; her fleet of sixty starships was battling over the rough mountain terrain of the planet Fosche, a world surrounded by so much asteroid clutter it was nearly impossible to get a functional space craft into the planet's orbit. The moon of this larger planet had been destroyed by a fold weapon thousands of years ago, the results of which forced hundreds of ships to dog each other in the canyons and mountains of this planet now. 

SDF-05 was in battle mode, rising over the peak of an eight thousand foot volcano to fire it's main cannon at an enemy destroyer. The enemy ship was taken totally off guard, and the blast tore through it and part of the mountain behind it where a larger number of enemy mecha had been setting up makeshift repair camps. Shikari noticed immediately on the radar that several enemy warships had already traced the path of her cannons and were now closing in, using rough terrain of this planet as cover for their ships. "Ajax this is Defiant, new enemy formation sighted! Hurry up Harper!"

Harper's face came onto the monitor with too much static for her to see his expression. "I can't get to you from there! Head for point 2-1-1 in the mountains and get between those two peaks and I'll try to get some missiles into that basin!"

When she thought about it, that was a very badly thought out plan, but admirable for also being the simplest. "Helm, head for point 2-1-1. Try and stay bellow two thousand feet."

"Aye sir!"

Shikari leaned back in her chair and gave this situation alot more thought. "Why here? Why this place? There's no strategic value in this system, it's just a pile of rocks..." Nothing made sense to her now. Running into enemy ships here in her favorite hiding spot would make things harder for her from now on, but that still begged the question of what did the enemy want with this system to send so many warships here?

The Ajax was staying in cruiser mode for this part of the battle, and on the command bridge Captain Harper was thinking much the same thing, but when the looming hull of an enemy cruiser came within sight of his guns between two mountain peaks, he quickly snapped back to reality. "Hey Shik, what's that formation that's giving you so much trouble?"

"Four destroyers and three cruisers."

Harper looked at the radar plot again and smiled. "Look at your monitors. You'll love this."

Shikari clicked on the little screen in front of the captain's chair and watched a camera angle on the group of enemy vessels closing in on her and her destroyer escorts. "What am I looking for...?" A single powerful blast erupted from the side of one of the mountains like a volcano and ripped through the first destroyer, and the cruiser next to it, and damaging the other three destroyers in the enemy formation with just that one blast. "Nice shot, Ajax! Missile control, finish off the other four and then move on to the next target. We have to link up with Captain Murath's destroyer group in that crater to the East. You can fire when ready."

There was a short pause, then a signal from fire control. "Missiles away bridge!" Barely a half a second later, Shikari heard the series of sonic booms as the missiles shot out of their launch tubes to finish off the enemy ships pursuing them, as well as two other ships that had been moving around the mountains to attack the Ajax. The warheads detonated in their faces after a moment, massive fireballs as bright as the sun and shockwaves that spread for hundreds of miles. A series of mushroom clouds rose over the now-flaming hulks of her pursuit; meanwhile the Defiant moved quickly with its destroyer escorts to join Harper's group in a massive impact crater almost ten kilometers wide and three deep. Ajax arrived in the crater a few seconds after the Defiant along with each of their destroyer groups forming up around them. The Zentradi cruisers got down lower, closer to the crater floor where they could recover any stray mecha more quickly, and the Thor class destroyers moved right up above them as they came into the crater one by one and opened their missile tubes for a full scale bombardment. The forty destroyers of Shikari's 2nd Advanced fleet had enough firepower between them to completely devastate the surface of this planet in every direction for hundreds of kilometers, but only a few missiles were needed to destroy the enemy fleet once they were all in position. "Ajax, this is Defiant. As soon as you've completed recovery of all friendly mecha, raise your altitude to three thousand feet and begin fold operations."

Harper felt his legs seem to go numb. "General, we can't fold in rough space in a gravity well! We could end up on the opposite side of the galaxy!"

Shikari chuckled. "Trust my judgment. I'll run the calculations to get us into high orbit of this planet, and once we're there we can think of a new plan."

Harper groaned loudly. "Plan nothing! We should just make a run for it!"

"And how do you plan to do that, Mathew?" Shikari said playfully.

"Oh." Harper rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Right, uhhh... we'll think of something."

--20:12 GST--  
Something soft yet firm smacked against one of her cheeks, and with an annoyed groan she swept it off the bed to the floor and rolled over on her side. "Not now Taosan," She groaned, eager to recapture her peaceful sleep. 

Kai Chan chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Time for your close-up, Minmei."

Her eyes opened fully, and in confusion she rolled back over and glared at him. "Kai?"

He nodded.

Minmei sat up on the bed, suddenly feeling a small array of aches and cramps protesting throughout her body. When she looked around she was more confused than ever. It was her house, her bedroom, but a trio of floor-to-ceiling posts occupied the center of the room, flowers growing out of the sides of them between sets of gemstones imbedded into the wood. "How did I get here? What happened to me..." She tried to sit up, but felt aches and pains all over her body again and, surrendering, lay back down.

"My buddy Gokaran from Alor City has a sister in the defense forces. She's one of the best light dancers I've ever seen, but..." He placed his hand gently on her cheek, "I was startin to wonder if you'd ever wake up."

Minmei took it all in, still barely understanding. "I was shot?"

"Several times."

"I was dying?"

"You were dead. You bled to death before we could bring you help. And if it hadn't been for Sekkai's light dancers you'd be six feet under by now."

A pulse of sadness rose in her chest, as well as an equally strong pulse of hope. "How have I been asleep?"

"Just over four weeks."

All at once the direction of her thinking changed, "What about the boys?"

Kai Chan smiled. "They're fine. I let them sleep in here with you every night. I thought if you woke up in the middle of the night and saw them with you it would make you feel better."

It was all she could do to keep from blushing in absolute admiration. "Kai Chan... you? YOU saved me?"

"Sorta. I just kinda happened to be there at the right time. I mean... well I'm mainly just luck I saw you when I did."

Her eyes started to sparkle, and throwing inhibition to the wind she reached up and grabbed him, threw her arms around him like a long-lost lover. "Kai... you saved me..."

Kai Chan laughed, giving her a moment's joyous outburst before he eased her back down into her bed, "You're welcome... oh, one more thing." He reached down next to the bed and scooped up a newspaper article he'd been saving for just this occasion. He dropped the article in her lap and let her read it, sitting up as much as she could. The headline on the very first page brought a tear to her eye: _AT ANY COST: GALACTIC POP STAR KILLED IN FIREFIGHT. _Breezing over the story, the journalist had clearly spared no expense in glorifying her. The article called her a hero, a patriot, a model citizen and more, taking up arms to defend her family from enemy invasion. At one point in the article, the writer even went so far as to say, _"Lynn Minmei has always remained true to herself and never compromises. Last year she told all of Gallaron she would get her hands dirty, and this weekend she has proven just how far she is willing to go. If this kind of courage and valor were more common among our people, this war would end overnight."_ She set down the article with fresh tears in her eyes. "I'm not dead."

"They know that. Sekkai did a public dance the day after this article for you and a couple other people. Everyone saw it. It was a big festival."

"What about Pris? Did they bring her back?"

An expression of pain flashed across Kai Chan's face. He struggled to find the words, but relented and shook his head slowly.

She stared at him with a desperate confusion in her eyes, a pleading expression for something she did not know how to ask for. For just a split second, each of them looked into the eyes of the other and saw a sadness and a yearning neither had expected; each felt unconditional friendship towards the other, yet each stared at the other as if to ask, _Why can't you be more than that?_

Kai Chan heard a sound at the doorway, and glanced over to see each of the twins, one on top of the other, crawling on their bellies at the edge of the doorway, looking up to see if Minmei was awake yet. Miko was right behind them, peaking around the corner shyly as if waiting for permission to exist. Just seeing them here caused her a surge of strength; she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and reached down to the floor, waiting for the twins to come into range and scooped each of them up and dropped them on the bed. "Hi there little one," She said to each, kissing Taosan and then Yu on the forehead. Both of them cooed contently and snuggled against her; Miko followed shortly with a shark's grin. "Wow, Miko, you're getting big! What are they feeding you?"

Miko grinned wider. "Mr. Kai's been cookin."

"Oh really? What's Mr. Kai been cooking?"

"Rema-cantaro."

"What?"

"Rema-cantaro." She said again.

Minmei looked up at Kai, and he explained, "It's a Protocran dish. It's supposed to make kids smarter." There was a slight jingle in his voice where she could not tell for sure if he was joking.

"Right..." Taosan seemed contented for the first time next to her, while Yu, by contrast, seemed the most excited to see her awake again. "Have you been taking care of them all this time?"

Kai nodded. "Of course. It was a pleasure, really."

"Well..." She shot a glance at the grinning little girl in the doorway, "Why is Miko here?"

Her answer appeared in the doorway behind Miko in a wheelchair, a somber expression on her face but a look of utter relief glazed over his eyes. "Oh damn," Misa said dramatically, "She lives!"

--14:50 GST--  
Kraken was thoroughly impressed, both with himself and the performance of his rivals. Ground battles, especially on planets as geographically dynamic as this, were never easy, and yet Shikari had managed to elude most of the fleet on the ground with relative ease. They were currently gathering in the basin of a massive impact crater near the equator, and once there they would obviously fire off a spread of nuclear missiles to catch the bulk of his fleet off guard and then attempt some outlandish ploy to escape from his forces. But Kraken had no intention of letting her get away with this. "Lazuli, enemy ships are regrouping in sector 807. Are you in position yet?" 

On Lazuli's battleship closer to the fighting, the Fleet Commander was checking over the last warship and mecha dispositions to make sure everything was happening the way she planned it. "We're in position, Commander. Cruise missiles standing by."

Kraken smiled grimly. "Let's just see how the little pipsqueak likes this one." He said under his breath. "Lazuli, fire away!"

"Yes sir."

Lazuli's battleship, as well as dozens of other ships closer to Shikari's fleet all fired a spread of nuclear reactive missiles over the peaks of the volcano ranges into the crater where the Gallaron fleet was waiting. The missiles rose to a very high altitude to drop in on the Gallaron ships, but at almost the same time as Kraken realized just what was about to come next, two great columns of energy exploded out of the crater from the Defiant and the Ajax along with a flurry of anti-mecha laser fire from the entire fleet. Lazuli's entire missile barrage was destroyed in two heartbeats, and then right behind them the Gallaron ships answered back with their own missiles. "I should have thought of that." Kraken grumbled. "She's using the terrain well. Our missiles and fighters can't get to them, they have to come in from above where she can sweep them all..." And then Kraken noticed something odd about the enemy's missile spread; it was rising strait up into the sky at nothing in particular, leaving towers of smoke in the sky hundreds of miles high. Kraken watched them fire up for a few minutes and then came to the most obvious conclusion. "They must be trying to clear themselves a path through the asteroid belts... a high speed run!" Now that certainly sounded like fun, something to sharpen the skills of his gunners and maybe provide some worthy entertainment for himself at the same time. "Fire control, adjust the ship's altitude up thirty degrees and direct the main cannon towards that crater. We're going to have to hit some very fast moving targets and we'll only get one shot."

"Yes sir." Came the sullen response from the gunnery control.

The Supervision Army command ship immediately started rising out of the small lake it had been resting in and pointed both massive arms of its main cannon skyward, charged and ready to destroy anything bold enough to try and blast its way off this planet. Kraken would not allow them to leave, not with so much riding on their elimination.

But after a few minutes, the Gallaron ships didn't make another move. Lazuli's ships and all of the warships of their battle group all had their cannons pointed upwards, ready to blow the protoculture ships out of the sky before they could even get into space. But nothing happened; five minutes came and went, then ten minutes. Nearly half an hour ticked down before finally Kraken got tired of waiting. "They must have lost their nerve." He thought to himself. "So much for target practice. Lazuli, get all combat mecha you've got over that ridge and down into that crater right now!"

Lazuli acknowledged gladly, apparently frustrated at having to wait so long for the enemy's response. "All pods and Variable armors are underway, sir. They'll make contact in about three min..." static filled the communications channels as a massive energy reaction started building up from within the crater. Lazuli wasn't sure at first, but after a moment when the gravity around them changed and the entire landscape started to shift, suddenly she knew what had happened as much as she couldn't believe it. "Kraken, the enemy fleet just folded!"

"Folded?!" Kraken was sure he had heard wrong, and if he had he would probably have Lazuli tortured to death. "How the hell did they get past you?!"

"They didn't! They performed a hyperspace fold right in front of us sir! Right out of gravity!"

"Out of gravity... is that even possible?" Everything Kraken knew about space warfare told him that this was not happening, that something else must be going on here and that Lazuli had plainly lost his mind. But then the first wave of combat mecha looked over the peaks to see something truly amazing. The relayed the image to Kraken's monitor, showing that the crater they had been hiding in had actually doubled in both size and depth, and that there was no sign of the enemy ships anywhere in the vicinity.

Kraken was speechless. He knew this had to be some kind of bad dream, that none of this could possibly be happening for real, until the moment his radar officers all yelped in surprise. "Lord Kraken, unidentified objects closing on our position at high speed! Profile suggests meteorites!"

"Meteors... dammit Shikari!" He shouted, suddenly realizing the depth of his miscalculation. He looked up above his ship as dozens of small fireballs descended on the landscape around them at twice or three times the speed of sound, blasted out of orbit by Shikari's missile barrage more than half an hour before. The smallest of these little rocks was the size of a bus, but the largest and most numerous were two or three kilometers wide; Shikari had blown up one of the larger planetoids and knocked it's fragments into a path that would send them all raining down on his fleet from above. Even his defense barrier wouldn't stand up to this... "Take evasive action! All ships clear the area right now!" Even as he spoke the first large asteroid, this one about six hundred meters across, came down on one of the carriers next to his command ship, punching strait through the force field and splitting the ship in half before hitting the water bellow it and exploding on the sea floor. Dozens of others rained down on them now, striking the ground at tremendous speeds and exploding with a force much greater than any reaction missile. Supervision ships scrambled to clear the way as asteroids pummeled the ground around them, some of them taking hits and breaking up, but most getting out of the area with minimal damages.

But it wasn't finished yet; Shikari's fleet folded into high orbit of the planet and powered up for another fold. As Kraken's fleet scattered under the bombardment of shooting stars from above, SDF-Ajax and Defiant powered up their main cannons for a parting shot. Both blasts struck down on the unsuspecting command ship from a distance of almost twenty thousand kilometers, punching strait through the ship's defense barrier and striking the hull just aft of the main engineering section. The ship's engines immediately exploded, and the reactors automatically shut down. The great hull of Kraken's command ship immediately fell ten thousand feet to the ground, crashed and slid down the side slope of one large volcanic mountain and finally coming to rest over a large dry lakebed.

Kraken sat in his chair on the bridge of his now derelict ship and rubbed his scalp tiredly. He would never hear the end of this embarrassment, but for some reason he wasn't at all angry with her. Much the opposite, Kraken was already starting to enjoy this game of cat and mouse he had begun with that little spec of a Meltran. Once his ship was repaired and ready for combat again, he couldn't wait to get back into space and get back into the game.

--17:40 GST--   
"Things are pretty much getting back to normal," Misa was saying, "The city's rebuilding, and the memorial services are wrapping up. It's amazing, really. With a raid this bad you would think people's spirits would be down, but now they're more optimistic than ever." 

"That's probably my fault," Minmei sat down at the kitchen table next to Kai Chan, her guests seated across from her in a cluster. Yu was sitting on Kai Chan's lap, clasping his bottle in both hands, Taosan was in curled up in Minmei's arms, already half asleep. "You remember this one, right?" She gestured towards the groggy twin in her arms, the larger of the two, "This is the little guy who's always giving me trouble. He even used to bite me when I was nursing him." Hikaru could already see why. He was huge for his age, easily twice as big as the last time he saw him, and quickly beginning to dwarf his twin brother in size and strength. Where Taosan seemed blissfully content with his surroundings and his companions, Yu stared at each of them with an interrogating glance, scrutinizing each of them as if deciding weather or not they were worthy to be in the same room with him. After a long moment he seemed to approve, and returned his attention to the bottle in his mouth. "My little dynamic duo." There was a note of partial sadness in her voice, as if conscious for the first time that she had very nearly orphaned the two of them just one month ago. Yet, both of them had lived through the same experience, and neither seemed particularly bothered by it even now.

Hikaru looked at Misa and saw, to his surprise, that her eyes were lit up like a pair of tiny moons. What amazed him, however, was the expression on Miko's face, standing there next to her mother peering over the table. If Miko were twenty years older, he would have sworn they were twins. "They're just adorable, Minmei!" Misa said, reaching out for the little one in her arms. "Taosan seems relatively normal, but why is Yu so quiet? We haven't heard a peep out of him since we got here."

"He's the strong silent type." Minmei said plainly. She handed off Taosan for Misa to hold him, then leaned over to pick up Yu from Kai Chan's lap. As soon as he knew what she was doing, the boy swung his bottle like a billy-club and smacked the back of her arm; she pulled away and left him in peace for the time being. "Taosan like to teach him games. They have this thing now where they roll around in circles on the floor for hours and hours."

"Why?"

"I have no idea, but it looks like fun. One of these days I'll get him to teach ME that game."

Misa laughed, and Miko reached up to investigate her new find. "He's so little..." she said curiously. "Can I have a little brother like him?"

"I'd be lucky to have a baby this beautiful." She handed Taosan down to Miko, who immediately sat on the floor with him and played with his hands.

In the next moment, Yu discarded his bottle and dropped it into Kai Chan's lap, then squirmed off the chair and slunk to the ground to join his brother with Miko. She welcomed the company and extended her hand to him; Yu grabbed a firm hold of Miko's index finger with his right hand, while Taosan reached up with his left hand and started poking her nose. He turned it one way, then the other, then squeezed it, pulled it, rolled her cheeks around with his plump little hands, poked his middle finger into her nostril, then sneezed, and backed off for a moment while Yu performed the same routine. Miko let each of them go through the cycle of playing with her face three more times before she could bring herself to move. "I think they likes me!" she said gleefully, moving his hand around as he clasped her finger. "Hi Yu! Hi Taosan! My name is Miko. Can you say Miko?"

Yu stared at her blankly, then let out a low squeak that might have been some attempt at a word. Taosan coughed, then pronounced a series of nonsensical babbles in his own private language. "That's as vocal as Yu gets. He has Taosan do all the talking for him." Minmei observed, watching from her chair, "In fact I had a doctor check his hearing a few days ago just in case, but aside from a general passivity there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him."

Miko played with Yu for a few more moments, then looked up with eyes full of hope. "Mom, can I PLEASE have a little brother like this one?"

"We'll see what happens, Miko. I can't always be sure what the baby will be before it's born you know."

Minmei looked at her friend curiously. "Little brother? Misa is there something you've forgotten to tell me?"

"Not yet. As soon I can walk on my own, we're certainly going to try."

Minmei smiled. "So competitive, aren't we?"

"Of course we are. I mean, I did kinda steal your boyfriend out from under you, even though I still have you outclassed on the 'most serious injury' category."

Minmei grinned. "Well yeah, but you haven't been in the paper as much as I have."

"Yeah, I guess you are on all the headlines with your miraculous recovery and all... oh that reminds me! I didn't tell Hikaru this, but something very interesting happened to me last night."

Really? What?" Minmei said.

"We've got this bar over the top of the bed that I can use to pull myself up when I need to get into my chair…" Misa pushed the chair away from the table and locked the breaks on her wheels. "I woke up in the middle of the night and I REALLY had to go to the bathroom, but when I tried to lift myself into the chair…" She reached under her chair for her cane and put her hands on the arms of the wheelchair. "…the bar broke and I almost fell."

Hikaru sat up suddenly. "You know, I was just about to ask about that too."

Misa smiled. "But I landed in a really funny position, like half leaning off the bed. And I didn't want to fall, so I took the bar and posted it on the ground…." Misa used all of her arm strength to heave herself out of the chair, then balanced herself on the cane to push herself the rest of the way up. At first she swayed precariously, her knees wobbled, a few times she almost fell... everyone was staring at her speechless. Miko had tears in her eyes, even Taosan and Yu seemed to stop and stare in wonder. Posting her left had on the cane and the other on the side of the table, Admiral Misa Ichijo was standing strait up for the first time in over a year. "And this is where I ended up."

--November 2, 2017--  
--03:20 GST--  
Broli's head was starting to hurt from lack of sleep. They were retreating again, outnumbered five to one by the enemy fleet, and even blasting dozens of them at a time with reaction missiles from the fighter wings couldn't slow them down. All the Gallaron forces on a five hundred lightyear front had started fighting the same way, doing their best to stay out of range of the enemy ship's guns and leaving most of the fighting up the Valkyries and most if not all of the defense up to the Lighting fighters. It was just a delaying tactic. Sooner or later the Gallaron fleet would have no choice to go head to head with the Supervision Army, and the only way to win was to have the maximum number of ships available to them. Alpha Factory was handling the load extremely well, with more asteroids being brought in for ore processing and the automated construction equipment increasing it's capabilities every day. And still Broli's head hurt. He couldn't take much more of this. 

There as a break in the action now, with the next wave of fighters well off into space and the previous strike still rearming. They would only launch one more attack before folding space again and falling back even closer to Gallaron then ever before. At this rate, the new ship would appear on the front lines just in time to be destroyed. But still, he had a doubt. Enemy behavior as of late wasn't consistent with the overwhelming tactical advantage everyone knew they had. "I wonder…" Broli started thinking again, on the oddly quiet bridge of his ship well engaged in a planet-sized space brawl. He figured as long as there was a lull in activity right now… "Lieutenant Raltha, give me a secure line on the hyperspace relay. Get me SDF-2"

"Just a moment sir…" Broli's communications officer started up the series of small communications satellites dispersed around Gallaron space until at length the signal found it was to one of the relay satellites within rage of the battleship Megaroad. The signal went out for a few minutes, then finally answered by a return signal on the same frequency. "Channel open sir."

Broli put the image on the monitor next to the Captain's chair and squinted through the grainy, distorted image to see Corina on the bridge of her ship, her face illuminated by intermittent flashes of light from explosions somewhere outside the ship. "Hi Kitten." He said.

"Hi Broli."

"Is this a bad time?" He said as another flash lit up the bridge around her.

Corina looked around slowly, and casually shook her head. "Now's as good a time as any. What's up?"

"I've been doing some thinking and I need a second opinion on something."

Corina squinted at him. "About us?"

"That too, but not just yet."

"Okay, what's your question?"

Broli organized his thoughts as quickly as he could so as not to waste too much of her time. "Have you noticed anything strange about the enemy lately?"

"Strange how?"

"Behavior wise. Something about the way they're fighting has been really bugging me lately."

Corina took in the information, and now that she thought about it Broli was right. Even in the battle right here in front of her with the enemy fleet shooting at her from a distance to support their little fighter raid, they seemed especially eager to press their advantage. In fact, they'd been fighting like this for a long time; it was as if they were holding back almost all of their forces for some reason. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't have a clue. Right now there's only a single battle group of a couple hundred ships active in this part of our borders, with the rest of them concentrating on Shikari's division or else scattered across the star systems looking for a week spot on our defense grid."

Corina nodded. "They wouldn't have this problem if they just sent more ships and rolled over us like they did at Gulara... not to rub it in or anything."

"Hah! Well go ahead, see what I care!" Broli said, trying to look offended but laughing instead. "Anyway, I have a hunch that the enemy might not be so strong as we originally thought. I think maybe there might be a way to exploit their weakness before they realize we've caught on."

Corina paused to reply as Commander Ryder reported to her that the enemy fleet was once again falling back out of range of their guns for the 7th time in as many hours. "You could be right. They certainly don't seem to have a lot of momentum these days, not like before where their whole armada would just charge right through us."

"Exactly. Even IF they're holding back a large part of their fleet, we've got nothing to loose by being more aggressive. If we can start pushing them back, maybe we can build up a more permanent defense line."

"Why are you telling me this? Why not send Shikari or Hallas?" Corina already had a working theory as to why he was asking her, but she still preferred to here it from him.

Broli started to grin. "Shikari has enough to do, we shouldn't trouble her with this. Let's make this a joint operation. We'll combine our two fleets and set up a weakness in one of the defense outposts. When the enemy fleet comes to attack it, we'll ambush them and take them all out before they can call for reinforcements."

"And…?" Corina was growing impatient.

"And…" Broli thought about it, trying not to forget anything. "Oh, of course you and I will have to have full cooperation in this operation. We should meet to discuss strategy some time, say… over dinner?"

Corina was satisfied. "Now there's a plan. Can you get Hallas to cover your patrol zone while we set up this ambush?"

"Consider it done Kitten. He's about twelve hours away from my position, so we'll rendezvous at Lima-619 in... thirty hours."


	7. Chapter 6: Victory

****

Chapter 6: Victory

--November 5, 2017--  
--09:50 GST--  
Once again, Shikari's 2nd fleet was proving itself a world-class pain. Their fighters had been harassing Lazuli's scout ships for several days, appearing apparently out of nowhere and destroying the whole lot of them before they could even get within range of the defense outposts they were supposed to be evaluating. What was so frustrating was the fact that some of the enemy ships were out there fighting one at a time, hiding in the shadows of asteroids and comets or making short inner-system folds to stay one step ahead of Kraken's hunter units. It was bad enough that the resources of Lacul's fleet were stretched well beyond their limits without Shikari's fleet dogging his supply lines and interrupting almost every operation their fleet undertook.

Kraken had been foolish enough to follow a group of Zentradi carriers into the ring system of one of the gas giants of Sheora-Delkaan, only to have a cloud of reflex missiles blast 20 of his ships to bits from somewhere hidden among the ice fields. With all the tiny chunks of ice and debris between him and his targets, the only weapons that were effective here were fighters, which Gallaron always had the overwhelming advantage with. There was no way 250 Supervision Army ships would retreat from a fleet of 75, but he was loosing too many at a time and his other options were becoming scarce. The enemy ships only came out of concealment just long enough to engage in support fire for the fighter wings and then they would disappear into the rings again and switch to ECM jamming, vanishing among the vast clouds of rock and ice. Whenever he could get a battalion of battle pods or powered armors into the area to search for them, he never heard from any of them again.

Kraken's mind was spiraling around itself as he calculated his next move. Shikari's counter attack in their last battle had been truly masterful both in conception and execution. He'd never seen a more talented tactician, and a man with as many pipe dreams as Kraken Foruk would never pass up a chance like this. Shikari was the jewel he'd been searching for his whole life, the final piece of the puzzle to complete his own ambitions. Being tagged with Lazuli wasn't helping matters much, but… "Jinai, this is Kraken. I need your group for a special assignment."

As if the maelstrom of beams and missiles swarming around his command ship wasn't enough, Kraken now found himself facing Jinai on his monitors, a badly scarred, dark skinned protocran with 16 inch dreadlocks and a thin type of face Kraken had come to associate with someone very used to warm climates. Every time he looked at this man, something inside him stirred uneasily. "What is it Kraken?" He said, his voice rumbling out of the depths of his chest like the roar of a jet engine.

Kraken shook himself to get his skin to stop crawling and then gave his orders. "I need you to isolate one of the enemy's transforming cruisers for me. There's a great deal of valuable personnel and equipment there, and I want that ship captured intact."

Jinai nodded slowly, sullen as always. "You want one of the big Zentradi ships or the little one with the brainy captain?"

"The little one, if it's not too much trouble Jinai. I trust you'll carry out your assignment with your usual efficiency?"

Jinai nodded again. "I should think so." Jinai closed the Channel without another word, leaving Kraken to shake that sinking feeling out of his guts.

"Creepy bastard..."

--12:10 GST--  
Kai Chan examined the specs of the powered armor again, this third time more thoroughly than the previous two. The engineering teams had done extensive testing on his accidental micronian mecha, but a great many unforeseen problems still plagued them it seemed. "Micro missile launcher?" He said again, raising a brow in intrigue, "How exactly did you manage to mount that thing on a machine that size?"

The younger mechanic in greasy overalls slapped the head of the kneeling powered armor next to them with a certain swell of pride. "We modified one of the experimental infantry weapons we've been working with. In fact, most of the weapons deployed in this powered armor are suped-up versions of standard ground weapons. The main assault rifle, for instance, is really just a fully-automatic version of the AR-41."

Kai Chan looked up slowly from the stats sheet. "The AR-41 is an anti-tank weapon. How do you fire that in full-auto?"

The mechanic laughed. "That's what we call a trade secret!"

"Hmm..." He browsed the stats of the machine again, flipping through pages, finally coming to a short list outlined in red. "Are these the problems you're having with it?"

The mechanic nodded. "We've got alot of bugs to iron out of the system. Now I know alot of you grunts have been lookin down on these babies lately but..."

"On the contrary, Ensign," Kai Chan set his hand on the armor, tapped the release panel to open the hatch, "I've had alot of time to think about this. The ground troops that raided the city a few weeks ago went marauding around like they owned the place. The soldiers here got overrun, and it got to the point where the women and children had to try and fight them off. Even Minmei..." His heart skipped a beat at the memory. The sight of seeing her broken body lying there on the pavement had been a deep wound to his soul. Just once before he had seen her in such a state, and the man who had hurt her in such a way had met justice by a Zentradi blade. He would sooner sell his own kidneys before he let anything of the sort happen to her again. "If you can refine this into an infantry weapon, what would it take to make it successful?"

The mechanic smiled at the question. "Numbers, Captain."

"Numbers?"

"These powered armors may be small and goofy lookin, but they're so light and agile that they literally fly circles around larger mecha. Individually it's just a hornet that can sting you if it wants, but in a large group, say a platoon or even a rifle squad, these little bastards will tear you apart."

Kai could see this already. And for numbers, that would not be a problem. Alpha Factor could easily manufacture a score of these armors for every single Stormlord. And with their smaller size, they could be stored in vast numbers if need be. "What kinds of problems are you having with it?"

The mechanic gestured him over to a control panel next to the kneeling powered armor and punched up a display on the monitor.

"There's alot of little flaws in the software, but the major one seems to be centered around the auto-balance software for the vector-control system. We can't even get it to walk in a straight line."

Kai Chan looked at the diagram on the monitors and thought it over. He knew enough about powered armor combat to know the balancers were only a small part of the problem. His combat experience was starting to pay off. "You're using the same control software as the Stormlord, right?"

"Of course. That's what the specs said when you sent em to us."

"Uh huh... well the design uses a vector control system, so let's try loading the programs from the Queadlunn-Rau's combat computer and see if that helps. You'll have to reset all the parameters though, since this machine isn't configured the same way, but more than that I want to adjust the reflex sensors around the hips and thighs." He turned away from the control consol and walked back around to the powered armor kneeling on its platform. For the first time, he began to see fully the potential of such a weapon' even Minmei would become a one-man army with powered armor like this. "The system will mimic all your movements precisely, but it's reacting to different ratios of mass. All we have to do is calibrate the sensors for someone a lot lighter."

"Good... uh, How do we do that?" The mechanic said, opening the hatch of the suit for Kai Chan's entry.

"You don't know how?" Kai stopped and shot him a funny look; the man shook his head. "Please tell me you're kidding?" The man shook his head again. "Fine. I'll do it myself..." Instead of climbing into the suit for another test run, Kai Chan picked up a nearby toolbox and picked out sockets for an impact wrench. "Yessiree, Lao Kai Chan does all the work, as usual."

--14:12 GST--  
There were only three things that satisfied Miko Ichijo: flying in planes, Mariah Carey music, and ice cream. Any combination of these things was sure to pacify her for several hours, and ice cream was always the easiest to produce when nothing else was available. So, after a brief stop off in the enormous shopping district that took up the innermost ring of Megaroad city between the old and new cities, Hikaru walked half a block further outwards to the new ice cream shop in the old city called Deccola-Delcaan Siet, which Miko had told him pretty much meant "Greatest ice-cream anywhere." Hikaru bought her a double scoop of cookie-dough and set her down on a bench outside the building; not thirty seconds later another woman came out of the building with a milkshake in her hand. "Hey, are you following me or something?" Minmei said chuckling.

Hikaru smiled and made room for her on the bench. "Funny bumping into you like this. You come here often?"

Minmei sat down and sipped her shake. She would have said something to Miko, but the girl seemed mesmerized by the ice cream cone in her hands. "Occasionally." She said softly. "After the twins were born I got alittle stressed out and Kai Chan brought me here for a relief."

Hikaru smirked. "Kai Chan to the rescue, once again. You should just marry the guy."

"Oh, please…" Minmei thought about it again and once again couldn't wrap her brain around it no matter what direction she came at it from. "He's just a good friend. I couldn't see us together like that, we'd just get sick of each other."

Hikaru was still doubtful. "Misa and I were like that for a long time. From the moment we met it was like we could do nothing but fight. You remember that right?"

Minmei giggled. "I remember. You and Roy kept calling her 'Old Lady' on the radio. You know, now that I think about it, how DID you two end up falling for each other like that?"

"I wish I knew. One minute I'm getting my ass chewed by my superior officer, the next minute this lunatic runs up to me and hands me an envelope full of photographs." Hikaru said with a faint, wistful expression. "Actually, I think it had something to do with your cousin. She got all sensitive whenever he was around and I had to walk behind her with a broom to sweep up the pieces." He glanced over as Miko wrapped her tongue around the ice cream cone, slurping it up in gigantic amounts, "Slow down, Miko, I'm not getting you another one."

Minmei sighed. "Yeah, Kaifun can have that effect on people. It didn't have anything to do with me though?"

Hikaru glanced at Miko, tentatively licking the side of her ice cream cone, then leaned over to Minmei and lowered his voice. "Maybe it did. I was in love with you for the longest time and you barely even knew I existed. You just buried yourself in your work and hung out with your cousin all the time. I guess Misa had to pick up a few pieces herself."

"In that case, I guess you should thank me for nudging you in the right direction. You too, Miko."

Miko looked up suddenly at the mention of her name. "Hm?"

"Nothing." Minmei said giggling. She was set to leave at this point and head on home for the day, but as she started to stand up, the light changed and a shadow began to move across the city. All three of them looked up at the sky to see the setting Gallaron sun blocked out by the hulking figure of a humanoid battleship descending through the cloud layers, moving off towards Lake Gouraz where it's crew was waiting to board the ship at the harbor. "Isn't that the Monitor?" Minmei said curiously.

Hikaru looked at it for a moment and shook his head. "No, that's the new ship that just rolled out, SDF-Victory. You know, Kai Chan's been reassigned there."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's not a command ship like the Macbeth but it's going to be the flagship of the 7th fleet when it launches... speaking of which, not that you're all that interested, but Varcus is phasing out the Zentradi warships from the fleet now. This time next year, everything in the fleet will be Gallaron-made."

"I bet that's good for the economy or something." Minmei stared at the image of that ship descending towards the city. She suddenly had this feeling like someone was walking over her grave, that she was staring strait into her death long before it could really happen. She heard from many people that sometimes the future couldn't be changed, and that dreams like this were a warning to be prepared for the inevitable. "What's the war situation like?"

Hikaru felt like he had fallen asleep and woken up in a strange place. "War situation?"

"Yeah, what's going on out there? How's the defense force holding out in this battle?"

Hikaru had been long prepared to shirk that question. "Can't complain. War is war."

"Don't patronize me, Hikaru. Just give it to me straight. Is it really as bad as I've heard?"

Hikaru, once again, made an effort to sidestep what he already knew would be a conversation she didn't need to remember or worry about. There was nothing she could have done about it no matter how much she wanted to help. "We can handle it, don't worry about a thing."

Miko stuffed most of the ice cream cone into her mouth with just one bite, then groaned and clutched her skull from the sudden headache, then finished the rest of the cone with the second bite. "I'm all done, Daddy. Can I have another one?"

Hikaru smirked. "I told you I'm not getting you another one. You should've slowed down."

"But I…!"

"C'mon, we have to get home. We're already late to pick up your mother."

Miko sighed in defeat. "Sa."

Both stood up, Hikaru kissed Minmei on the cheek and started back for the house. "Miko," He said after a few steps, "How do Protocrans say family?"

"Badronei." Miko said after a pause. "But when there's a lot of girls, sometimes it's Kadronei.'"

Hikaru picked her up and let her sit on his shoulders; he immediately noticed she had gained weight since the last time he carried her like this. And probably 3 inches to go with it. "You learn that in school?"

"No, my friend Shumi taught me."

"Shumi again." Hikaru said. "What's her daddy's name?"

"Mr. Gashi." Miko said playfully. "Don't you know Mr. Gashi? How come you don't know Shumi?"

Hikaru thought about it, and suddenly the vague memory came back to him of the first time he had visited his first officer's family. Commander Gashi had four wives, two of which were killed when the wreckage of a Zentradi warship crashed into the forest north of what was now Megaroad City. The man had what seemed like millions of children so it was hard to keep track of all of them, but he did seem to remember him mentioning the youngest one was called Shumi, and that her mother was one of the two who died in the accident. It was no wonder Miko's little friend had such a low opinion of Zentradi, and this also raised other questions. But there would be plenty of time for that later.

--23:17 GST--  
Everyone likes a well executed plan, especially someone as cocky and ambitious as General Shikari. The Supervision Fleet had reacted exactly like they were supposed to, sending a massive group to counteract the perceived presence of what she had made to look like a powerful enemy fleet. She was pummeling the enemy fleet now and there was nothing any of them could do about it but retreat, but since they outnumbered her more than three to one, there was no way they'd turn back now. She was tempted to jump into a fighter and get her own pound of flesh, but Captain Harper had already beaten her to it and there was no way she was going to leave the ship in the hands of junior officers in the middle of a battle. "Febb, what's the status of the third strike wave?"

The first officer had finally memorized her commander's patterns in battle, and as soon as Shikari asked she had already looked up the data. "Now returning, sir. ETA on the Ajax... two minutes. Ajax is already launching the fourth wave."

Shikari was worried, she had been worried ever since Harper sortied with the third wave to get a better look at the battlefield. He was riding shotgun with a VF-4 and an escort squadron for three squadrons of E-Valks, enough firepower to destroy her entire fleet a dozen times over, but anything could go wrong and she knew it. "Is Captain Harper with them?"

"His fighter's damaged but not seriously. Ajax is reporting successful strike."

"Great, what about OUR fighters?"

Febb checked the data input from the Defiant's strike wave five minutes behind the Ajax. "Eleven enemy ships destroyed, fifteen severely damaged and out of the fight."

Shikari did the math in her head. "After the last strike... that leaves two hundred enemies plus or minus a dozen."

Febb almost sounded relieved. "So they only outnumber us TWO to one. I could live with that..." The ship jolted as something exploded far behind them against some of the comet fragments and asteroid debris of the rings. Febb turned the viewer aft without needing to be told, and the image displayed a group of about hundred Supervision starships moving through the debris field, clearing away any objects in their path with cannons and missiles. Before Shikari could even think to say anything, her fleet was swamped by enemy fighters.

"Where the hell did those come from?!" She shouted angrily.

Febb checked their course, but the orbital path didn't seem possible. "It looks like they came out of the planet... they must have doe some aero-braking maneuver! The only way they could have come up like that is if they actually bounced their ships off the atmosphere!"

Her head started to hurt. That kind of maneuver was hard enough to pull off with just one ship, but a hundred? Obviously, she thought, luck was not on her side today. Enemy fighters and pods were battling Lighting fighters and powered armors around her ship like two swarms of angry bees, marked by explosions on all sides of them. The Lighting fighters were already starting to get the upper hand, as usual, so all Shikari would really have to worry about was the enemy fleet. "All ships come about, open gunports and fire on my command! Have the two battleships lock onto the enemy flag ship and put down a defensive blanket!"

The fleet's response was impressively quick, all of them came around and brought all of their weapons to bear on the enemy fleet. They all fired at once, missile destroyers, Zentradi cruisers, carriers, and the two Nupitiet-Verginitz class battleships they had with them. The Defiant fired its main cannon into the enemy fleet, knocking out one of their carriers with a single blast, and the two battleships fired off all twenty main laser cannons directly at Jinai's command ship. Much of their barrage was soaked up by a few hapless enemy destroyers, the rest impacted harmlessly against the command ship's energy barrier.

And then the enemy fleet returned fire, the entire mass of warships spread out and fired their main lasers and particle cannons into the Gallaron fleet. The pinpoint barriers on most of the ships found themselves overwhelmed, some taking too much fire to block properly, others actually blocking more fire than the barriers could handle. A phalanx of energy beams hit the hull of the two battleships and destroyed one of the carriers next to them. Two of the missile destroyers were immediately torn apart by the concentration of firepower, but Shikari noticed that only a few of her ships had ever registered hits. That's when she realized something. "Their radar... they can't track all of us! Perfect!" She opened a radio line to the Ajax where Captain Harper was just getting to the bridge. "Captain Harper, as quickly and quietly as you can, get around behind the enemy fleet with a destroyer group and wait there."

Harper gave a slight squeak of anxiety. "Wait there?! What for?!"

A pair of variable powered armors appeared in front of the bridge and pointed missile launchers at the dome. Half a second before they could fire, a flurry of pulse lasers from a flight of VF-4s hit both of them through the main body, destroying one of them immediately and sending the other careening off into space with flames shooting out of its belly. Shikari breathed a sigh of relief, then turned her frustrations on Harper. "Why do you always have to argue with me?! Shut up and do it!"

"Yes ma'am." Harper said curtly, and began moving the Ajax laterally out of the line of fire behind a cluster of extremely small rocks. SDF-03 was in cruiser mode so it wouldn't be all that hard to get back their unnoticed, but that left the problem of how long it would take him to get there.

A group of battlepods closing from the front vanished to nothing after a barrage from the defense lasers pummeled all of them, and a group of fighters behind them was caught in a crossfire between a squadron of Lightings and one of Defiant's missile batteries. Harper needed more time, Shikari would have to give it to him. "Full barrage, all ships! Keep firing no matter what!"

The two behemoth battleships quickly joined the rest of the fleet, firing all of their laser cannons and particle turrets at enemy targets as they approached. All of the enemy ships took hits, most of them losing their defensive barriers immediately, some of them taking too much damage even to stay in the fight. Another bombardment from the two battleships cut down a half dozen cruisers and destroyers, again without penetrating the defense field of the enemy command ship. The enemy return fire was slightly less impressive than the last time, much of their fire missing the targets and the rest of it being screened off by pinpoint barriers. Another Thor class was disabled and started scrambling escape pods, and four of the Zentradi cruisers moved forward with one battleship to press the attack to the enemy.

Febb's panel started blinking, a preset to indicate that the enemy fleet had closed to five thousand kilometers. "Enemy ships now in missile range captain!"

Shikari had been waiting for this. "How long until Captain Harper can encircle them?"

Her radar officer frowned at the plot, "Too long, sir."

Shikari figured as much. "Let's buy him some time... tell all ships to pull back to ring Sector 35 and fire reaction missiles to cover us!"

"Yes sir!" Febb sent the orders, not really sure what Shikari was hoping to accomplish by retreating but not really caring either way. All of the fleet vessels fired missile tubes right then and made their retreat, and Febb watched the track of the missiles negotiating their way through the scattered debris of the planet's rings. "Four thousand kilometers and closing!"

"Pull back all ships! Tell that battleship and the cruisers to bring up the rear."

"Yes sir... three thousand kilometers to impact!"

Shikari looked at her own screen. The missiles were closing on the enemy fleet in a line formation so all of them would impact at once. Closer and closer they got to impact; the detonation from the missiles would put up enough radiation to blind the enemy for a few minutes, giving Harper ample opportunity to attack them from behind. She knew it would have been easier to just execute a space fold and quit while she was ahead, but she didn't want to leave here without giving the enemy something to remember her by. "One thousand and closing.." She said, reading the display. The enemy fleet was accelerating very quickly, closing the distance extremely fast. "Nine hundred.. Seven hundred..." and then the screens lit up with an energy bloom from the Supervision Fleet, a burst of energy identified at first as a hyperspace fold. First a few, then fifty, then every one of the enemy ships activated their fold drives, only to emerge from hyperspace barely a hundred kilometers behind Shikari's fleet. A number of enemy ships folded too close to debris fragments and found themselves immediately disabled or destroyed, but most of them appeared out of a halo of light and fired another full barrage at Shikari's fleet.

One of the Zentradi battleships soaked up too much enemy fire; secondary explosions began to tear the ship apart from the inside before one tremendous explosion split the two and a half mile battlewagon in half like a toothpick. A hail of laser fire pelted the Defiant from all sides despite it's best efforts to defend itself with pinpoint barriers. The deck rocked suddenly and the sound of an explosion reverberated through the corridors of the ship, even Shikari could hear it. "Direct hit! Starboard grappler's losing power!" Febb shouted, reading off her consol.

Shikari's jaw tightened. That had been an incredibly gutsy maneuver on the part of the enemy, one she had seen somewhere before. Now she was certain, the commander of this group must have been the one called Jinai, a commander so infamous there was no record of him ever losing a battle to a Zentradi fleet. Not that any of this mattered, without that grappler arm, the ship wouldn't be as maneuverable and would loose much of its defensive advantage. The only thing left to do was fold and hope the enemy wouldn't be able to follow them… but then a signal burst through over the loudspeakers on a Zentradi frequency; a deep, emotionless voice came thundering through. "Gallaron fleet, by order of the Galactic Supervision Army you are ordered to surrender your ships and prepare to be boarded. There is no escape for you, surrender now and we will spare your lives. If you continue to fight, you will all be destroyed."

Shikari heard it but couldn't believe it. The Supervision Army never offered surrender as an option, not even when their enemies had something they wanted. Everything she knew about their ancient enemy had just gone strait out the window, but at that moment something else occurred to her. Harper's fleet had been moving around behind them before they folded, but now... "Ajax, this is Defiant, are you in position yet?"

There was a long pause before anyone answered, and then the computer identified a radio source fifteen hundred kilometers to the rear of the enemy fleet. "Affirmative, Shik."

Shikari smiled to herself. This couldn't have worked out better if she planned it... "That command ship is a real pain. Could you do something about him?"

"Just give me the signal." Harper said playfully. "A light show or a flare or something..."

"Coming right up... Susan, charge up the main cannon and target that command ship." Shikari opened a channel to the command ship and cleared her throat. "This is Shikari Raskanos to Commander Jinai of the Supervision Army. I'm sorry, but I can't surrender right now. You understand right?" Shikari nodded at the tactical officer, and seeing her chance, Lieutenant Marcus pushed the switch. Defiant's main cannon flickered to life, then fired a tremendous blast from between its cannon booms directly at Jinai's ship. The energy wave smashed into the defense barrier with a brilliant flash of energy, followed shortly by the main cannon of the Ajax from far behind and energy beams from a half dozen destroyers along with it. The defense barrier collapsed from the combined barrage, and then the beams cut into the hull of the ship itself. Shikari's cannon didn't have enough power to punch through the barrier, but Harper's blast clipped off a portion of the starboard hull, sending the massive horseshoe-shaped vessel tumbling out of control.

Shikari looked, then laughed out loud. This turned out to be a pretty productive day after all, but there were still about a hundred ships bearing down on her at almost point blank range and hundreds more undoubtedly on the way from Kraken's fleet now that they knew where she was. She'd had her fun, it was time to go. "Thanks for your help, Ajax. All ships, commence fold operations immediately. We'll leave the system as soon as the last of our fighters have been recovered."

The VF-4 squadrons and the last of the E-Valks were already on their way back to their ships, some setting down on the hull and keeping enemy mecha at bay while their ships made preparations to fold space. After a few minutes, the Gallaron fleet vanished into energy plumes as their fold drives sped them away from this system, leaving a hundred Supervision Army ships and thousands of mecha firing into a hole in the sky.

--25:01 GST--  
Camera angles displayed on the monitor showed the suit from all sides, close-ups of both legs and both arms, computer CGI graphics, charts and graphs of various data from the sensors in the ground and taped to Lieutenant Beecher's skin. Such a seemingly petty task like walking up a flight of stairs didn't seem to warrant such attention from the development team, but by now they had all learned to treat the Apache like a baby who was just learning how to walk. The new learning computer Varcus had installed in the prototypes would speed up the process in the program, but that still meant failing a number of times before they got it right.

Beecher was finally nearing the top of the staircase, two stories up from the floor of the test facility. One foot at a time, slowly, carefully, she rose up to the next step, and the next, and the next... Kai Chan caught a flutter on the otherwise smooth curves on the line graph, indicating a sudden shift of weight onto her right leg. "Jessie, shift left."

She shifted her weight back to the left in mid step and the weight distribution evened out again. Kai Chan breathed a sigh of relief on this one. "Thanks, Kai. I couldn't even feel it that time!"

"I hear you." _Those damn balancers are adjusted too tightly. No matter what we do, she STILL has to do it manually._ He jotted it all down in the notebook at went back to watching the test. Beecher was coming up on the top step now, raising her foot to step up onto it and declare her victory... the bottom of her foot hit the top of the step lightly, and the weight didn't shift into the leg like it should have. Instead, it all went back into the heel of the powered armor and the suit started to tilt backwards. "Jessie, shift forward."

"I got it." The suit began tilting back even more, slowly at first but then picking up speed as the top of the thruster pack passed its heels.

Kai Chan's heart skipped a beat. "Jessie, I said shift forward!"

"I AM! The damn damn controls just locked up on me! It won't mo..." Her leg jerked suddenly as the control system snapped back into action, further speeding up the process. The entire machine came tumbling backwards down the stairs in a clumsy heap, ultimately crashing to the floor on the top of its head before tipping back over on its face. "Ohhhhhhhh... I pushed the feet too hard. It must have gone into aerial flight mode and stiffened up for the boosters. Good thing my fuel tanks are empty."

Kai Chan raised a brow. "I guess we calibrated them too sensitive... why the hell would it lock up like that?"

"Beats me. I'll say one thing though, I wouldn't wanna be in the air when it does that."

"Good call... alright, looks like it's back to software for a few days..."

"Captain Lao Kai Chan," someone shouted from across the room. Kai Chan glanced over his shoulder at the doorway to the monitor room, finding a slender form silhouetted against the light in the hallway, "A word with you please."

"Punch out, Jesse, I'll be down in a minute," He took off his headset and set it down on the control panel, then left the panel and stepped out of the room with Captain Elensh in the lead. "Morning Captain you're looking... positive." In truth she looked more than a little irritated, but the cause of her frustration was anyone's guess.

"Captain, I wanted to ask you about your battalion."

"What about it?"

"Well... it seems a number of your soldiers are displeased with their assigned mecha. And for that matter I myself am a bit puzzled."

"By what?"

"Your female pilots have all been assigned to Stormlords."

Kai Chan blinked slowly, certain he was missing the point somewhere. "And?"

"Most of them still have functional Queadlunn-Rau armors back on the Macbeth, but you've deliberately taken the time to change their assignments."

It took him a moment to think about it, but then Kai Chan understood the problem. "Oh uhhh... you see Captain, with the factory satellites in such disrepair the Queadlunn-Rau expensive as hell as produce and we don't really have any spare parts for them. And besides, the armories on the Victory were designed for the Stormlords. If we added powered suits the size of the Queadlunn-Rau, we'd loose ten to twenty percent of our numbers."

Imura shook her head in disagreement. "Just one of those suits would be more than worth..."

"But we still don't have the parts, Captain. The Stormlord armors are cheep to build and even cheaper to repair, and their combat performance is easily thirty, maybe even forty percent of the Queadlunn-Rau. When we get into the thick of it, we're gonna need those numbers alot more than we're going to need the firepower."

Imura shook her head again. Something else was bothering her besides just a tactical concern. "Captain Lao... you... I understand we come from two very different backgrounds, but even YOU have to admit the value of giving more capable weapons to more capable pilots. You understand what I'm saying?"

"Not really..." It took him a moment to remember some of the more colorful aspects of Captain Elensh's personality-- maybe not colorful but definitely old fashioned by Zentradi standards. "Captain, I think it would be in everyone's best interest if you tried to keep an open mind. In a combat situation, men and women may perform differently but that doesn't make one any more valuable than the other."

"I'd like to think so, but the world doesn't always work out fairly. There are some things men just aren't up to."

It was a strange conversation for a human to be having, but for the Zentradi it had become something of a cliché, and a hardly arguable one at that since an angry meltran officer was one of the most dangerous things in the universe to be around. "We'll see about that. In the mean time, I'm in charge of this battalion and I have the final word in this matter. I will make a note of your suggestion but I'd like to keep a few command positions open to male officers."

Imura rubbed her eyes tiredly, apparently finding the entire conversation something of a farce. "We'll just see how your battalion performs then. Keep in mind that I was willing to look the other way during our tour on the Macbeth, but the Victory is too important to jeopardize on some idealist theatrics. The moment I find your command abilities are not up to par with what they should be, I will see that you are replaced by someone better. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Kai Chan saluted and Elensh went on her way to her next errand to the engine room. "This is gonna be a long flight." He said under his breath.


	8. Chapter 7: Chinese Food

**Chapter 7: Chinese Food**

—November 6, 2017—  
—22:30 GST—  
Jinai's command ship was badly damaged and there were fires in all starboard compartments from where Ajax's cannon had blown off the side of it, but Jinai himself couldn't seem to care less. He merely sat there, a living picture of bored indifference on the scene of what would have driven a normal man to suicide. He let the junior officers prattle away the damage reports; he was far too engrossed in the all consuming task of letting his mind wander. One of his holographic monitors clicked on, showing the face of a considerably displeased Kraken Foruk. "What happened there Jinai? Not paying attention?"

"Guess not." Jinai boredly reached into the pocket of his uniform and came up with a holographic plate, something no one in the higher command staff knew he even had. Lacul would have forbidden it if he knew of its existence, but Jinai had made sure he never did know. "That Shikari is one tricky little meltran. It's no wonder you've had so much trouble with her."

Kraken paused a moment, then started to smile. "Impressive isn't she?"

"Impressive isn't exactly the word I was looking for." Jinai clicked on the plate and scrolled through the images to the one he was looking for, a picture he had taken on a planet that had been shattered to dust half a million years ago, in front of a house that no longer existed. "How inconvenient."

Kraken seemed slightly offended, which Jinai immediately picked up on. "Inconvenient? She's more than just an annoyance to you, isn't she?"

"How do you mean?" Jinai could definitely sense something odd in Kraken's voice. "Sounds like you admire her."

"Of course not, but she's perhaps the first worthy opponent I've ever faced. Actually, this is starting to get fun."

"Tell that to Lazuli. She's lost a dozen scouts to these people in the last four days and she's getting incredibly bitchy." Jinai closed the channel and went back to studying the holographic image. He remembered that day, his son's twelfth birthday, the day his second wife told him she had a surprise for all of them waiting back behind the house. This photograph was taken a few moments before they were supposed to go back and find out what it was, with that song playing in the background that, like so many other songs he'd heard at one time or another, he could reproduce with just about any instrument on a whim. The reason he remembered this particular picture and the song that seemed to go with it was because a few seconds after the camera scanned the image, all of them looked up to the horizon behind it to see thousands of Regult battlepods surging over the horizon... he never did figure out what Shenna's surprise was, and when that blast from the Regult's plasma cannon turned her body to ash he realized he would never know. It could have been much worse if Gepernich hadn't realized the value of Jinai's talents and kept him on as a frontline officer. He'd been promised that Saori and the boys would all be kept in a safe place, which to him was all that mattered. If there was any place else to go, Jinai would have taken his family and run to it, but no one was really safe from the Supervision Army and he knew that better than most.

Jinai tucked the holographic plate back into his pocket and called up the ship's navigation officer, ordered him to plot the enemy fleet's de-fold coordinates. He didn't know why Kraken was so caught up with this woman Shikari, but he himself would be only too happy to be rid of her.

.  
—November 16, 2017—  
—24:22 GST—  
Minmei was in one of her sour moods, the same kind of mood she had been in when she met Richard that day almost two years ago, only this time she lacked the proper dosage of alcohol and friend chicken to smother herself into oblivion. No amount would do this time, the source of her troubles was entirely different: her two children were hungry and she was exhausted. She kept glancing at that picture on the wall of Miko on her last birthday. Miko the maniacal, Miko the reason incarnate why she could never be with the man she loved. And the memory of the attack on Megaroad City was still so fresh in her mind. All she could see in the future was a short and violent end to her life and her children, as well as everyone else in the Republic. It was as if all the high spirits of the colony thus far had drained her of the will to live, and now all she could think to do was lie there on the couch, staring at the TV, sulking herself into an early grave. Once or twice she glanced at the faint scars on her fingertips from her last terrible mistake, but besides that she was totally motionless. For an hour. Then three hours. Taosan started crying again, but she stayed put through the fourth hour, drifting into sleep.

She was half sleeping well into the fifth hour of her sofa vigil, with Taosan all cried out and Yu silent as always when the doorbell rang. Minmei woke from her nap in a zombie-like state and walked across the living room to the front door, not really even thinking about who could be on the other side of it. She just opened it blankly, and there was a delay of almost fifteen seconds before her brain even registered the fact that there was someone standing outside her door.

Kai Chan was there, leaning against the doorpost in an old, wrinkled uniform with his nose in a newspaper. "You been reading the POPs lately?" He said calmly. Minmei shook her head, only now shaking herself from apathy and realizing even who and where she was. "There's this gag poll they've been doing, celebrity politics. They say that if you ran for Mayor or for the Chancellorship more than 80 of Gallaron would vote for you."

Minmei blinked slowly, then stepped down from the doorway and hugged Kai Chan. "I need a friend tonight..." she was so exhausted from the day she was almost in tears, and Kai Chan noticed how much she was leaning against him.

"You alittle tired?"

"I feel like I'm still dead." She murmured, sinking into his chest like a cushion.

Kai Chan bear hugged her and carried her into the house like a sack of groceries. "Why don't you run for office anyway?" he said seriously. "It definitely pays better than volunteer worker at the hospital."

Minmei pulled away and leaned against the wall. "Because of the new constitution. You can't hold office without a degree, and I've never been to college, and I don't intend to go."

"Yeah, I guess so." He set the newspaper down on the table next to the phone and leaned against the wall next to her. "So, how's the manhunt going? You getting laid yet?"

Minmei smiled again. Just having him here was very good for her mood. "That's none of your damn business, but thanks for asking." She walked across the living room and planted herself on the couch while Kai Chan dropped into the armchair behind her. She felt more awake now with her friend in the room with her and clicked on the TV. "You want something to eat?" She said finally.

"I ordered out. Fei Chan said he was gonna make something special for us."

Minmei was thankful for that, but feigned annoyance. "How do you know I didn't eat already?"

"I called your cell phone but nobody answered. The light was on in your house so I figured you must have been asleep."

Minmei was impressed. "Nice of you to plan ahead like that." She turned back to the front and went back to watching TV, waiting for the food to arrive. For some reason, she kept glancing over her shoulder at Kai Chan, sitting in the arm chair behind her, staring over her shoulder at the TV screen. She tried to ignore him, but his presence there was just too much... "You can sit here if you like." She said, gesturing to open space next to her on the couch.

"You don't wanna stretch out?"

"No, I'm a sloucher." Minmei said sinking into the cushion. "C'mon. It feels creepy to have people looking over your shoulder."

"Alright." Kai Chan moved up and sat down on the couch cushion on the opposite side of the couch. He looked at the TV as Minmei channel surfed. "I was wondering, what movies were you in?"

Minmei thought about it. "I was in that crappy sitcom a few years ago, and then I did Fokker's Fate, and Perigee... and a long time ago I was in Little White Dragon..."

"I saw White Dragon just last week. That was YOU!"

"Yup."

"You know, I thought about that... I mean, I knew it was your voice singing the theme song but I didn't think..." Kai Chan looked at her for a long time. "Must be the hair. You look really different."

"I was sixteen years old then, Kai Chan." She laughed.

"That's true..." He shrugged. "I loved you in White Dragon. Are your other movies anything like that?"

"Kinda."

Kai Chan nodded. "You're pretty good. "

"I certainly am." Minmei said proudly. "But it takes alot of work to be successful in this business. And with volunteer work and looking after the kids, I have NO spare time at all. Sometimes I think I'm going crazy."

"Yeah, I worry about you sometimes... how come you don't quit? You make more than enough from royalties."

"I've got... plans, Kai. You wouldn't understand."

"C'mon, Minmei. You don't ever seem to have time for anything, you're always worn out... if you're not going to slow down, you should at LEAST get someone to help you out."

"It's nothing new to me, Kai. I'll manage." Minmei said. "Now as for you, what do you and your friends do with your spare time?"

Kai Chan thought again of the little rubber ball, and the thousands of hours he and his companions had spent chasing it around the ship. He thought about Private Beecher's slinky, the coffee stain on the wall that Private Forest told people would grant three wishes if you stared at it long enough, and about Sergeant Alako's deck of cards over which the marines had shared many a dirty or racist/sexist/blonde joke at each other's expense. More than anything, he thought of the thousands of hours he and his battalion had spent complaining about the barely-edible food pastes they provided for the ship's macron crewmembers that very frequently resulted in explosive diarrhea. "I hang out with my comrades in the corp. We spend most of our time training, sharing war stories, getting ready for the battle ahead... or something like that. I admit, if any of us had any money we'd probably blow it all at strip clubs, but since we're all broke we just settle for some of your posters."

For some reason, Minmei was intrigued. "Which posters?"

"Private Forest has the Sunset Beach pinup from the 2013 catalogue, you were wearing that skimpy bikini top with the thong underneath that waterfall and your nipples were sticking up. I really like that one."

"Me too." Minmei said, remembering the issue. "Actually, that's my favorite one. Obviously, I am NEVER showing that one to the kids."

"I can't promise I won't do the same." Kai Chan found what he was looking for in the TV guide and read it over. "Did you say you were in Perigee?"

"Yeah, it came out like three years ago..."

Kai Chan grabbed the remote and turned the channels. "I never got to see that."

Minmei grabbed the remote back. "No, don't! That was such a horrible movie...!"

Kai Chan snatched the remote back. "Let me decide that!" Minmei reached for the remote, but Kai Chan held it up away from her. "You want me to stay or not?"

Minmei sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine."

.  
—25:04 GST—  
SDF-04 Monitor was back in space, back out on its way to the front lines of combat, but her captain was hardly thinking about getting back to work at a time like this. Hikaru had all the patience in the world when it came to Misa's recovery, but even he was beginning to find the situation exasperating. Misa was still struggling just to move her legs on the waste level paralleled bars where she spent hours a day just practicing moving her foot back forwards and back, but aside from her incredible leap the night before they went to see Minmei, she had made almost no progress at all. Hikaru didn't understand this, since Misa had been able to stand fully under Gallaron's two and a half gravities, but back in space on the way to the front lines, she could barely managed to sit up strait. He found himself getting discouraged for the first time, and though he never would have said anything out loud, he had started to accept that fact that Misa's condition might very well be permanent.

He couldn't even stand to be in the same room with her today, leaving Miko up to supervise the proceedings. As always, Misa was struggling on the bars, supporting most of her weight on her arms, moving her legs with patience and concentration. Hikaru resolved to take a nap in the bedroom and wait for Misa to finish, so she could sit back down in the wheelchair where he could best ignore her condition. Later that afternoon, something woke him up from his sleep rather abruptly, and once his ears adjusted he could just barely tell what it was. Miko was shouting, laughing at something obviously very exciting. He looked at the clock and saw it was a little after 3:00 PM on Saturday, and with the sun already setting on the horizon he figured Miko must be watching TV. He felt guilty for sleeping the whole day away and leaving Misa alone like this, so with some great effort he heaved himself off the bed, smoothed the covers and let himself wander into the living room…

Misa was nowhere in sight when he came in Miko was sitting on the floor watching a Battlestar Galactica marathon on TV. She was sitting perfectly still, a rarity for sure, staring at the TV screen almost afraid to blink. He figured Misa must be grateful for this all too rare period of calm, but when he looked around he could see she was nowhere in sight. "Miko, where's your mother?"

"She went for a walk." she said vacantly, still staring at the TV and the swirling melee of space fighters shooting back and forth.

Hikaru looked around; her wheelchair was still perched next to the bars, though her walking stick was no longer stashed under it. "She just left?"

"Yeah. She said to stay here."

Hikaru grabbed his coat and made for the door. "Stay right here, I'll be back in a few."

"Uh huh," She said absently, folding her legs and waiting on the floor where she was and braced herself for at least seven more hours of sci-fi broadcasting.

Hikaru left the apartment and closed the door behind him. Down the hall and just around the corner of the noisy ice machine, he found Misa leaning against the wall, using the cane to hold herself steady. Her face was covered with sweat, even in the mildly chilled air of the Monitor's open city block. "Misa?" he said gently, "Are you okay?"

Misa nodded slowly, still leaning against the wall. "It's like my legs are asleep…"

"Koru said it would be like that. Just give it some time."

"Help me…" Misa held out her arm, Hikaru grabbed her and helped her balance. She was almost totally unable to shift her weight one way or the other. She might as well be limp, but she had just enough control to keep from falling over. "Let's go to King Laos, have a nice relaxing dinner there, just the two of us."

"What about Miko?"

"We won't be long, she'll be okay with her TV shows."

"C'mon, we can't just leave her alone..."

"Hikaru!"

"Okay, okay..." Hikaru turned back down the hallway, but Misa grabbed his arm.

"Leave the chair, I wanna walk."

Hikaru paused in the hallway, turned and searched his wife's eyes for some kind of plan. "I don't mean to be insensitive or anything, but do you have any idea how long that's gonna take?"

"Then we'll just walk to the bus stop, or else we'll call a cab and we'll walk to the curb and back. I'm just tired of being the Misa-mobile, I want to use my legs..."

"Alright," Hikaru grabbed her elbow to steady her, straitened her up, felt her losing her balance under his grip. He felt it was like trying to hold up a pole vault. "So we should be back in… what, an hour?"

"Sounds good, yeah." She grabbed onto his arm for support. Carefully, slowly, she shuffled her feet forward. She struggled for a few steps, patiently and slowly making her way down the hallway and towards the front door of the apartment building. After what might have been the longest walk of her life, Misa reached the door and looked back down the hallway to the place where she started. They were barely six feet from her front door. "Damn... this hallway isn't as long as it looks."

"Yeah, I noticed that."

She thought for a moment, calculating the distance to the King Laos down the street. At the rate she was moving they might just arrive within a week... "How about we just walk for a while and then order out. King Lao's delivers until dawn."

Hikaru frowned. "This place doesn't deliver as fast as Fei Chan used to. It could be awhile."

Misa smiled and with painstaking effort took another step. "I'm in no hurry." she shifted and tried to keep going, but her legs were not responding at all and Hikaru had to hold her up until she could get it back. "Goddamn, this is taking so long…"

"You know what you look like when you walk like this?" Hikaru said, trying to break the tension.

'"What?" Misa saw it coming even before he said it, "Oh wait, let me guess... An old lady, right?" she said giggling.

"No." Hikaru said, pushing the door open with his shoulder and helping Misa through it to leave the building. "You look just like baby learning to walk." Just the mention of the word made Misa's eyes flash like a pair of tiny suns. She took another step, this one a bit more coordinated than the last and Hikaru didn't have to help her as much. Hikaru seemed to notice the sudden burst of progress. "The sooner you get back on your feet, the sooner we can start on Miko's sister." Misa's legs were still not responding to her as well as they needed to, but she was keeping her balance now and taking more and more coordinated steps. Hikaru figured she just needed something to take her mind off what she was doing, so he brought out his last trump card. "Better yet, let's start today. I'm sure you'll be ready when the time comes."

Misa stopped there, reached down and started pinching her legs. "Dammit, this is taking too long!"

"You're trying too hard. Don't think about it, just walk!" Hikaru grabbed her again and started walking this time picking up the pace a bit. They walked alittle faster, but still slow enough that a turtle would have passed them like a speeding truck. Misa followed along as best she could, stumbling every couple of steps, but she used Hikaru as a crutch and braced herself on the walking stick whenever she needed too.

After half an hour, they had just managed to get to the end of the block when Misa decided to turn back. "At this rate, I know I'll be ready in time." She said as they came to the corner. "Let's go back home."

Hikaru nodded in agreement. "Should we send Miko off somewhere?"

"Check and see."

Hikaru walked back to their front door and poked his head inside. Miko was still parked in front of the TV. "Honey, are you gonna be okay by yourself for a little bit?"

"Uh huh..." She said absently, not looking away from the TV.

Hikaru tested her, "Miko, Santa Claus is in the hallway, he says he has some ice cream for you."

"Uh huh..." She said again, equally absent as a flash of explosion from a Cylon fighter lit her face.

"That's what I thought." Hikaru closed the door and locked it shut with his key. "That settles that."

.  
—November 7, 2017—  
—01:55 GST—  
Shikari had been tossing and turning all night, her dreams had turned bizarre and she was seeing things in strange ways she had never imagined possible. For hours in her sheets she trembled, tossed, turned one way then the other, sleeping in chaos of imagery so intense she actually cried out a number of times in some combination of excitement and fear. In her sleep her body did strange things she couldn't begin to understand, and then screaming she woke up from her dream. It was two in the morning, just after dawn. Her sheets were soaking with sweat and her mattress seemed weighted down by gallons of moisture. She was trembling; the images of the dream had been at once so vivid and exciting yet so frightening and bizarre at the same time. She was confused, and even now she wasn't sure if it had even been a nightmare. Her insides felt like they'd just been twisted in a knot then messaged back out again, her skin was actually tingling just with the draft of the air circulators in the walls. The confusion of the dream was so random she couldn't even put her thoughts together in a way that made sense, but the only thing that she could seem to remember was that in involved Captain Harper, and it seemed to have something to do with a bullet-train going into a tunnel...

There was a strange sensation like there was something she urgently needed to do right now, though exactly what was simply beyond her understanding. She remembered a remedy she'd read somewhere for situations like this, and she crept off into the bathroom of the Captain's quarters to take a long, cold shower. She didn't understand why, but she kept thinking of Harper and the dream, and something about the dream that made her feel very strange inside... "HOLY SHIT!" She turned the water on quite a bit colder than she had intended, and the spray of ice cold water actually forced the air out of her lungs. She tried for a few moments to stand it before she finally managed to adjust the handle to a level that wouldn't form crystals in her blood. After a few minutes she started to calm down, and her thoughts drifted to more practical things. Mainly she worried about Broli, and about his relationship with Corina. She thought it would be wise to do something nice for them next chance she got, perhaps buy them a pet or something for their anniversary or one of their birthdays— or whatever day Broli had ultimately chosen for his own birthday. Her mind went over this for a few minutes until she turned off the shower and slipped back into her uniform, deciding she'd had enough sleep for one night.

The video monitor on the wall next to the bed started beeping, and Shikari tapped the controls with her thumb and answered. "Captain Speaking."

"Priority message for you sir, it's coded and on a secure channel." Febb said on the monitor.

"Is this in regards to the ammunition supply we've been waiting for?"

"I don't know. There's no header on the message."

"Well who's it from, then?"

"Don't know."

Shikari figured it must have been Broli or else a wrong number. But a coded channel? This was a strange thing to transmit without a header or an ID. "Put it through then."

She finished the last button on her uniform just as the monitor flickered to life, and to her astonishment the General found herself face to face with a Zentradi officer in a Supervision Army uniform. "General Shikari Raskanos of the Gallaron Space Defense Forces. I presume that is you?"

Shikari wasn't sure what to say at first, having never actually communicated with an enemy before, but she decided in this case it was best just to be courteous. "That's right. Are you Kraken."

"Yes." The Zentradi stood up from whatever it was he was sitting on and stepped closer to his monitor. "I've been watching you."

"Have you?"

"Yes. I've been watching your ship and your tactics. Did you know you are one of the most skilled tacticians I have ever seen in all the years I've traveled these stars?"

Shikari was flattered, almost as much as she was that day Harper called her beautiful. It took all her will power just to keep from blushing. "Skilled nothing, I'm just lucky."

"That could be, or it could be that you're fighting for the wrong side."

Shikari blinked slowly. "What are you talking about? What other side is there?"

Kraken smiled slightly. "The Supervision Army has far greater resources than Gallaron, General. We have better field officers and better ships, and we have the means to conquer the entire galaxy and build our own empire once Gallaron falls. You are the only major obstacle to that goal, and if you fought for us there'd be no stopping you. And with you at my side, with Jinai behind me and Bennet as a patsy, we could even overthrow Lacul and take his army for ourselves. We could build our own empire and rule it like dictators, the highest authorities in the galaxy. If you joined forces with me, you and I could rule it all."

Shikari found the offer was tempting, and if Kraken could be trusted—which he probably couldn't—she stood to gain quite a strategic advantage over almost everyone else in the galaxy. She had joined Gallaron for much the same reason, why not another change of affiliations? "How would you plan to beat Lacul?" She asked, more out of skepticism than curiosity. "I'm sure you know he can't be killed..."

"But he has many weaknesses and I've been around him long enough to know how to exploit them. It may be enough just to contain him or seal him up like all the others, and we alone would be the masters of the Supervision Army then. But for all of this to work, I need YOU. You're the only one in Gallaron with kind of ability I'm looking for, and as I'm sure you've guessed, recruiting new talent in the Supervision Army is far from easy."

Shikari started smiling. It was perhaps the most enticing offer she had ever received in her life. Then again, she reminded herself that the sum of all her experiences as an active soldier between training and her most recent combat action amounted to about twelve years, maybe she wasn't thinking this over clearly. In any case, there was little for her to loose by switching sides, and staying one step ahead of Kraken would be easy for her especially. "Kraken that sounds like a..." Then the memory of the dream flashed through her mind again, and just like that she felt weak in the knees and she started to sweat. It felt like there was an itch somewhere deep inside her that she had no idea how to scratch, centered around the memory of Captain Harper's face, and for some reason Broli and Corina. "I'll consider it, but there are things here that... there are people here I care about and I don't want to abandon them just yet."

Kraken nodded. "I understand how you feel. The offer stands on the table General, and if you're still undecided before too long I might extend it to include anyone you would like to bring with you in our transaction. I trust you'll make the right decision."

Shikari sighed. "You're certainly not making it easy for me. I would appreciate some proof of your sincerity first."

Kraken nodded. "I'd expect you would. Given enough time I would provide such proof on request, but until then I'll see you on the battlefield."

.  
—26:57 GST—  
The table in front of the couch was littered with the corpse of an empty carton of shrimp fried rice, sweet and sour pork and a half emptied bowl of Fei Chan's signature "Cantonese Ramen Special," along with several empty soda cans and a double fudge brownie they hadn't gotten around to eating yet. Kai Chan was watching as the ending credits of Perigee rolled and muted the TV for the ending theme. Minmei looked up at him and found him sitting ramrod strain on the couch, staring ahead like a zombie. "My God!" He said at last. "That was a bad movie! That was a REALLY bad movie!"

"You see, you never listen to me!" she scolded. "I told you it was bad, didn't I? I tried to warn you but you just HAS to see it..."

Kai Chan opened up another soda can. "Even for an action flick, that was brutal! And that shower scene was kinda conservative, considering how they lead up to it..."

"You know, that's exactly what Hikaru said! I told them a thousand times I wasn't going to do a sex scene, and they finally backed down on it, but for some stupid reason they kept the whole buildup to the damn thing! Would it really be that much trouble to take a few minutes out of the movie to actually explain what's going on?"

"Well, that's Megaroad Studios for ya. That kind of filmmaking should have died with Hollywood."

"Tell me about it. You know what, the only positive experience from that whole movie is that I learned how to skydive."

Kai Chan chuckled. "I'd definitely call that a positive experience."

Minmei left the couch and headed off to the kitchen. "You gonna eat that last brownie?"

"Naw, it's all yours." Kai Chan heard something off behind the couch, and looked over to see one of the babies scooting towards him across the carpet on his belly. He picked the kid up off the carpet and looked at him for a long time before he was sure which twin it was. Yu boy chirped when he picked him up but didn't make another sound. "Their birthday's comming up next a month."

"I'm, surprised you remembered." Minmei said from the kitchen. "You thinking of adopting one of them?"

Kai Chan laughed and set Yu on his lap. "C'mon, I couldn't handle a kid! Actually, you should think about getting yourself a husband."

Minmei came back with a large glass of milk and sat back down next to him. "Do they still have those at Sears?"

"No, only married men hang out in stores these days. If you want a reliable husband and father figure, you should talk to my brother."

"Fei Chan?"

"Yup. He's got the magic eye, he'll fix you up with the man of your dreams."

Minmei took a bit of the brownie, washed it down with the milk. "I'm not looking for the man of my dreams, I'm looking for a husband. I need a REAL man, a guy with the balls to take the blame for his own mistakes, not some jackass prince charming who's only useful between the sheets."

Kai Chan thought about it. "Private Forest is pretty forthright. I should hook you up with him..."

"So he can call me Jenny? No thank you." Minmei chuckled.

"C'mon, you know Forest! He's a sweet guy!" Yu rolled over in Kai Chan's lap and put his toes back in his mouth, and Kai Chan could have sworn he was reacting to something he said.

Minmei chuckled again. "You're sweet too, Kai, and there's no way I'm asking you out!" She finished the brownie and topped it off with the glass of milk.

"Well hey, just leave it to the Three Kings. We'll get you fixed up before you know it... Fei Hong can help from beyond the grave, you know."

Minmei smiled at him, but then thought of another subject. "Kai, I want you to be totally honest with me. We're not going to win this war are we?"

Kai Chan stared at her for a long moment, taken slightly by surprise, and shook his head. He imagined she had probably asked Hikaru the same question, and right now he was in no mood to baby her. "The defense line is crumbling, and their numbers are endless... Shit, we must have dropped hundreds of them at Gulara, but they just kept on coming. We can't keep this up forever, it's only a matter of time."

Minmei looked at her feet. It was the answer she had been expecting, but hearing it out of Kai Chan seemed to drive the reality home even harder. "I wish there was something more I could do. I've been trying to help the wounded soldiers and I've been doing things to inspire people..."

"I still think you should sing in battle." he said, leaning forward to talk more directly to her. Yu sat up and scooted onto the couch, sinking into the space on the cushion between them. "At this point, just about anything would be a big help. The way things are going we're looking at the total collapse of the entire defense force by this time next year."

Minmei growled. "Kai, I'm not a soldier, I'm a song and a dance! I'm just a performer, nothing more!"

Kai grinned. "Elvis Presley was a performer. You think HE dodged the draft?"

"But..." Minmei gave this some thought. Kai had an interesting point, but somehow it wasn't the same. "Well I'm not drafted, and I sure as hell am not Elvis."

"No, you're Minmei. The question is, are you JUST Minmei, or are you something more? You've got a voice that could melt comets, and the Supervision Army would never see you coming."

"Well I... I guess I'll think about it."

"But don't think too long. Unless something happens soon we might not have a planet left to defend." He hugged Minmei and turned to leave, but found his index and pinky fingers trapped in the grasp of baby Yu. He thought to pry the little fists off his fingers when by accident he became caught Minmei's eyes. She caught his in the same way, and for a few moments both of them drew a blank. It was one of those awkward silences where neither of them could figure out what to say, where neither of them could think of a reason to say anything at all. This went on for two full minutes while Yu played with Kai Chan's fingers, until abruptly his brain seemed to come back on line and blinking he finally thought of something to say. "You know, you look really cute with your hair braided."

Minmei squinted at him. "When was my hair ever braided?"

"I mean in the movie." Kai turned to Yu and started to pull himself free, but the little fingers seemed to be made of steel. "You had a braid in your hair in Shao Pai Lon. I kinda liked that look."

Minmei could barely remember it, and at the time she never even gave it much thought. Then again, that was during a time in her life she rarely gave much thought to anything at all. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I think so. Besides, it might be a good way to go around unnoticed. It makes you look REALLY different." He went back to prying Yu's fists off his fingers, and after a moment he gave up and leaned down to the kid. "You wanna let go of me, don't you?" Yu shook stared at him. "Please?" Yu stared at him more. "I'll buy you candy when you I come back, I promise." Yu let go of Kai's fingers, rolled over on the couch cushion and shoved his toes back in his mouth. "Thanks Yu. I'll see you Minmei." Kai Chan pulled himself off the couch, hugged her again, and in moments he swept back out of the house like a gentle wind.

Almost as soon as the door closed behind him, Minmei walked over to the mirror and toyed with her hair, pulling it back behind her head out of view in an attempt to picture it. She adjusted it here and there, not exactly sure what to make of it or how the new look suited her, but it was different, that much she knew. She tied her hair behind her head and walked upstairs to find Taosan rolling around on the floor. "What do you think Taosan? You like it?" Taosan stared at her for a moment, then went back to his strange aimless game of rolling around on the floor, ultimately rolling into a wall and turning around to go back the other way. "I guess not." Minmei let her hair down again and walked down the stairs to collect Yu and put them both to bed.


	9. Chapter 8: Protoculture in the New Age

Chapter 8: Protoculture in the New Age

—November 20, 2017—  
—04:40 GST—  
People who bore easily like Sam Bennet are rarely sent on search and destroy missions, just as women as emotionally unstable as Sarride are generally frowned upon as being commanders of large scale combat action groups. Yet both of them were deployed to the Kaladan system on one of Lacul's all-time favorite wild goose chases, the search for long lost planet Vorhalas. Even now, Sarride was the only person alive who had ever been there who still believed in its existence. Her last act as a free woman had been as an effort to liberate this planet from the property of the Supervision Army, but after the "cleansing" of her mind all she could think about was conquering it again. Taking Vorhalas intact would be a turning point in the war effort, as it would not only provide the Supervision Army with a base of operations but it would also provide them with a wealth of advanced weapons they could use, not in the least of which were fold weapons. Lacul's factory was still damaged, so the only working fold weapon they had was the one Kraken had found in this system almost a year ago, but if one of those little planets really was Vorhalas, the universe would soon experience one very large series of bangs.

The search was planet by planet, and Sarride personally surveyed every one of them to confirm that this world was or was not the planet they were looking for. But one world caught her attention in particular, a rocky roughly 16,500 km in diameter, much smaller than Gallaron but almost the exact dimensions as Vorhalas once was. Bennet's fleet deployed battlepods with fighter support to secure the planet after a two-month survey of the surrounding planets and made planet fall literally hours before Sarride's ship entered orbit and began to scan from above. Once there, she knew where she was going, she knew exactly where she was. This was Vorhalas, the home of her childhood.

Bennet is a man who bores easily; after several days of apparent tedium while Sarride checked and rechecked her findings, Bennet waited for something to do. He had resolved to leave Sarride alone with whatever the hell was bothering her right now, but after three days of waiting enough was enough. He took a shuttle to Sarride's command ship to speak to her in person, desperate for something that could be called a conversation with a person who's personality was still marginally intact. He arrived at the bridge of the command ship to see Sarride slouched in her chair, staring at a projected image of the planet bellow with a lost expression on her face. "Sarride," Bennet began. "Is this Vorhalas or not?"

Sarride nodded slowly. "Yes, this is Vorhalas."

"Then why don't you fill me in on this whole deal since I'm the only one in this fleet who doesn't know what's going on."

Sarride turned slightly and faced Bennet just enough for him to see half of her face, the other half hidden in shadow. "Half a million years ago, the protoculture unleashed Lord Gepernich and his followers on the universe with their mistakes, and Gepernich in his wisdom saw the impurity that ravaged the galaxy and starved the billions of people across the stars. He set out to purify the souls of the protoculture by absorbing them into his own divine being, cultivating them, harvesting the best of them until he could restore the spiritual balance to the galaxy. At the height of his war, he attacked the protoculture's home world and purified its inhabitants to strengthen his armies of light. But rather than allow their world to fall into the hands of the Supervision Army, the protoculture built the first fold weapons and used it to destroy their world and much of our armies with it. It was a devastating blow to both of us, but they recovered faster and the tide began to turn."

"What is Vorhalas?" Bennet said, suddenly more interested.

"When their world was destroyed, the protoculture used their largest moon as an escape vessel to carry the survivors away from the system. They used a fold system, similar but much larger than the one used to transport factory satellites, and they moved the moon to another location far beyond the reach of our forces. They moved it two more times so we wouldn't be able to track it down. And then the Zentradi started fighting us for the first time and we no longer had the resources to look for it."

Bennet shifted his weight back and forth. "I remember Lazuli said something about that. Why did they wait so long to get involved?"

"We don't know." Sarride looked out at the moon again. "After the collapse of the Stellar Republic, Vorhalas was a safe haven for protocran refugees from all parts of the galaxy. But at some point, billions of them scattered throughout the galaxy in colony ships and small warcraft. Most… well probably all of the surviving protoculture descendents come from there."

Bennet looked at the holographic image behind her. "Let me get this straight. Vorhalas is actually a moon of the protoculture's home planet?"

"It was, a long time ago…" Sarride looked down at the display again, focusing the image on a spot she'd apparently been waiting for. "I was born right there." She said, pointing. "There's the ruins of an old city down there. I lived there my entire life. My sister and I married Sarron, and we had four children between us… and then Gepernich came and showed me the path." She stood up from the chair and walked to the front of the bridge to the tactical control panel there. "I was afraid, and we tried to escape with the others on Vorhalas. But a Supervision scout team got to us in time, they took us to Gepernich and he cleansed us of our impurities…"

This was interesting. Bennet found the shuttle trip anything but wasted now. "What happened to your children?"

"I disposed of them a long time ago. They were a distraction, an object of impurity. Whenever I was with them my purpose became cloudy, my thinking became sinful. It's like that with Sarron too, but Lacul's has helped me work through it."

"Good to know." Bennet said. He made a note to keep an eye on Sarride and her ex-husband. If worse came to worse, that would provide some worthwhile entertainment. "Why is Lacul so interested in Vorhalas anyway? Aside from fold weapons, which he can make more of once he…"

"Vorhalas has a very extensive manufacturing base, as well as a great many old ships that could be salvaged for combat use. Not only that, but the legends say Vorhalas possesses the greatest secrets of protoculture. We know that many of the inhabitants from this planet went to Gallaron when they abandoned it and we know they destroyed everything they didn't take with them in case we might find the planet some day, but there's always the chance that something valuable could be there. Kraken did find a fold weapon floating in space nearby, we're certain there is at least one additional device somewhere on the planet."

"Also good to know." Bennet noticed Sarride's fingers moving over the control panel to the weapons systems. "I'll send word to Lord Lacul to begin moving the fleet into this system and to start fortifying the planet… what are you doing?"

"What? Oh nothing, just wanted to check on the secondary dimension cannons." Sarride entered a command code and the small cannon on the belly of the ship started to power up. She tapped in the last program and pushed a small lever…

The beam ripped out from the underside of her ship and descended on the planet, striking the geometric center of the old city and plowing hundreds of meters into the ground before finally converting all the matter of the area into pure energy. A thunderous nuclear fireball consumed the entire city and everything within 10 miles of it, sweeping displaced atoms into the atmosphere in a rising mushroom cloud. The place where Sarride was born, where he children were born, the same place where her family home had only moments before still been relatively intact was now a crater in the ground 3 miles wide. "Secondary cannons working perfectly." She said under her breath. "Inform Lord Lacul to start sending moving the main fleet."  
.

—December 12, 2017—  
—23:57 GST—  
Gallaron officials are well acquainted with the value of high morale, especially among high-ranking fleet officers who made most of the tactical decisions. Dr. Varcus didn't see any particular problem with Broli's proposed joint operation with Corina's fleet and could even see the tactical benefit it would have, provided the two understood that they couldn't operate together forever and that before too long they would have to go their separate ways again. Then something amazing happened. Captain Matheson had gotten the idea into her head that the SDF-2's holographic display system had not been fully un-installed from when the ship was converted from colony ship to a battleship. Her engineers modified the system for use outside the ship, and Broli's fleet commenced decoy operations in the Zjen-Kari system where the enemy was expected to begin a renewed offensive. Corina's ship projected the rough image around itself of a small asteroid and moved into a position near the battle zone. Broli's fleet masterfully maneuvered a group of enemy ships into a position near Megaroad-01, and none of the enemy ships even knew what hit them. All 50 of them were blown to dust in a matter of minutes.

Victory after victory had followed the start of Broli and Corina's joint operation, and as a reward Dr. Varcus decided it would be in the best interest of everyone if they continued to work together to take the fight to the Supervision Army. Their war had seemed to indicate an at least temporary chink in Lacul's armor, and the entire GSDF was now mobilizing to further exploit it. Gallaron now went on the offensive. Staff meetings for top officials were suddenly cheerful occasions, as for the first time there were signs of hope returning to the fleet that they might be able to seriously damage their enemies abilities to threaten them.

The most common tactical display on SDF-2 was now a close-up of the Arturo sector and the surrounding space. A cubic section of the galaxy, a thousand light-years across. Looking at the display from above, the center of the galaxy would be near the bottom of the display or "Galactic South" as Earth astronomers used to say. Earth was on the opposite side of core, about forty-five thousand light-years farther south, but the Supervision Army's main stronghold of Bokata was towards the top of the display, in the Bokata system almost 750 light-years galactic north of Gallaron.

Megaroad-01 and SDF-Phoenix were towards the bottom left of those charts, holding position in inter-stellar space eighty one light-years galactic north of Gallaron. The fleet commanders, husband and wife, milled over intelligence reports and action summaries sprawled out on the table in Captain Matheson's office on SDF-2 with a pot of coffee brewing in one corner on top of Shikari's evaluation of the Supervision Army's new variable powered armor. Broli's mind had already gone blank; he knew they needed to strike the enemy's position but he had no idea where. Tactical information wasn't very forthcoming all of a sudden. "General Hallas is moving up the eastern flank…" He said, reading off the charts looking for ideas. "Shikari's fleet is to the galactic northwest, seventy five light-years deeper… where's Misa now?"

Corina had been spaced out, staring at one of General Hallas's dispatches on enemy troop movements, but after a moment she punched up a code into a keyboard and one of the stars on the map started pulsing. "The Monitor and her group are advancing behind Shikari on the western front. Barzam and Grel's fleets are holding the center with the defense grid."

That didn't help them much. They were right back in the position they had been in weeks ago, a stalemate with no obvious next move. It was like trying to place chess with nothing but pawns… suddenly, Broli remembered that they would soon be getting a new game piece. "Where will the Victory be deployed?"

Corina typed in another code and a thin red line appeared between Gallaron and a double star system close to the front. "The Captain Elensh and her group will be about here when they launch, just a little to the west of General Hallas."

"There've been a lot of attacks in that area recently…" Broli said. He sipped his coffee and looked at the charts more closely. "It's mostly quiet in the center section…" An idea was forming in his mind. Victory was just another ship coming into the front with just another fleet, but having it would free up valuable resources if they wanted to try something new. "Kitten, I say we make for… Jikanna Delcaan and try to establish a beach head. We're gonna draw a lot of flak when we get there so let's just hope Victory's as tough as everyone hopes it is."

Corina highlighted Jikanna on the charts and frowned. "That's a little far out isn't it? You don't think we're getting over-extended?"

"Define over-extended." Broli said. "By the time we're in position, the Victory will be arriving in the battle zone as reinforcements with fifty warships and a full fighter compliment. Besides, look at enemy behavior lately. They've gotten less and less aggressive with each battle, even the ones we lost. Remember right after we lost the Gulara Corridor? They halted their larger-scale operations all over the front for the better half of the month. The largest battles were by that hunter-killer unit that's been harassing Shikari on the other front, but aside from that they've been less and less active in their attacks."

Corina could see where he was going with this. "And so far the only contact with their fleets are small scout vessels or patrol craft testing the defenses for weaknesses…"

"…Which isn't consistent with their usual tactics." Broli added. "Normally they'd just roll over us with a huge armada just like at Gulara. The only reason they'd be taking their time like this is if they didn't have a choice."

"So you think they're having some kind of resource problem?

"That or the Botoru fleet on the opposite side of the sector's putting up more of a fight than Lacul expected."

"That could be," Corina paused a moment to refill her coffee mug. They'd been at this for almost seven hours now, trying to plot their next move. All either of them wanted was to crawl into a hole somewhere and fall asleep, but there was still far too much work to be done.

"Anyway, that's pretty much the leading theory on the Phoenix," Broli refilled his own mug and took a massive gulp, waiting for the buzzing sensation that would sustain him for at least the next three hours. "If that's really true, there won't ever be a better time to strike than now. We have to press forward towards Lacul's home territory, wear them down before they can recover from whatever troubles they're having."

Corina leaned back on the couch. "Are WE that much better off? C'mon you know what's happening back home, the transport divisions are working day and night bringing asteroid fragments to the factory satellites and the assembly lines are at max capacity, and we're still churning out new weapons at a snails pace. We're in no position to try and exploit _their_ weaknesses if we can't even cover our own."

Broli rubbed his temples in anxiety. He was perhaps the last person who needed to be reminded of this. "Let me ask you this, if we see this opportunity, but play it safe and let it pass us by, will there be another one?"

His words played on the one insecurity all of them had about this situation. They all knew that if the Supervision Army managed to get their act together before too long, they would be right back in the middle of a loosing battle with hell between them and the end. The war had dragged on longer than any of them had ever anticipated, so much so that every ranking officer had the distinct impression that they were all living on borrowed time. "We'll give it a shot, Broli," Corina said finally yielding to instinct, "What's the worst that can happen anyway? We get wiped out, we take hundreds of them with us, the Victory's fleet mops up, right?"

"Exactly." Broli sank into the couch a bit and tried to relax. Just thinking about going into another battle made him feel heavy.

"You tired?" Corina said.

"I'm okay. I think we ought to get something to eat."

"You're in luck. Someone opened a King Lao's in the city block last month. They'll deliver to anywhere on the ship, even the bridge."

Broli smiled. "That sounds good... by the way, I didn't know you guys rebuilt the city block. It's damn impressive if you ask me."

Corina smiled proudly. "Some of the Mobile Infantry set it up last time we were in port. There was all this extra space leftover when they put in the main cannon so they basically crammed a bunch of buildings into the top level and left the bottom open for development. Any space that was left over got reserved for businesses. The first one in line for the permit was Lao Fei Chan."

Broli could feel his energy building up again, probably the result of a convenient caffeine rush. "In that case, let's just go out."

"Out?" Corina looked around the messy office with papers strewn about the room and sighed in disapproval. "No, let's just stay in...

Broli grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the door. "C'mon Kitten!"  
.

—December 13, 2017—  
—09:50 GST—  
"C'mon, dammit, keep up with me!" Ensign Monty screamed into the headset, to no avail. Jerry's fighter was falling too far behind, and with the next evasive maneuver, Lieutenant Arriaga managed to sweep in above him and put him out of his misery with a burst from his gunpod. "Aw, shit!"

"You're all mine, Monty!" Arriaga passed over the debris from the slain Valkyrie, zigzagged into his six and squeezed the trigger. Monty switched immediately into gerwalk and tried to fly over it, but one lucky shell passed through his right engine and he began to tumble towards the jungle below. "Gotcha!"

"I hate you, Francis! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you...!" Monty pulled the ejection leaver, but at just the wrong time; the fighter was upside down when the seat fired and the simulated pilot was launched head-first into the three line at two hundred miles per hour. The holographic monitor flashed a red light indicating his death.

Colonel Ichijo's laughter rolled out on his radio as the computer counted off the reload time to drop him back into the simulation, "For crissakes, Monty, that's the fourth time he's killed you!"

Monty growled indignantly. "He's in a zone today, Colonel. I swear to God I'm gonna toast his ass!"

Hikaru was watching the simulation play out from his monitor in the control room; so far Lieutenant Arriaga had scored kills on all of them at least twice and been shot down only once. "You know the only reason he keeps beating you is because you're all going after each other. If you would just gang up on him for a little bit he wouldn't be able to drop you like that."

The simulation reloaded, and Monty found himself back in the action, starting off at thirty-thousand feet above South Ataria Island as the dog fight continued bellow him, "That's exactly what he's doing! He's not fighting anybody he's just sneakin up on people when their heads are turned! I think that's cheating!"

"It's every man for himself. There's no rules, you know that." Hikaru watched Monty's fighter dive out of the clouds to plunge back into the battle, in a gleeful bloodlust that at once made him feel both old and young. The pilot side of him wanted to jump into an empty simulator pod and join the fruitless melee just to show his young pilots how the game was played, but the squadron leader he had become was more curious to see how his men performed when the gloves were off. It was a rare thing in reality when a pilot was free to just fly, no objectives and no fears, nothing to defend and nowhere to go. They'd been at it for an hour already and every minute that passed, he learned more about the men and women under his command.

Out of nowhere a new fighter loaded into the simulation under Skull-11's login. Hikaru grinned at his pilot's enthusiasm. "Well, well... I guess you're not as sick as we thought, huh Batista?"

There was no answer on the radio, and Hikaru left it alone. Skull-11 followed Monty's lead as he plunged into the air battle over the Island, but to Hikaru's complete surprise the Valkyrie immediately lined up Monty's plane in its sights and fired a long burst into his engines, sending the Valkyrie crashing in flames to the ground and plunging the pilot right back to oblivion. He heard Monty give a shriek of anger on the radio, but now it was Batista's performance that held his attention. _That's interesting... maybe Jose's gonna step it up today?_

Skull-11 rolled out from its kill, at once banking to one side in a clumsy maneuver and then reversing the turn back in the other direction. Jerry's Valkyrie dropped onto his six and opened fire with the gunpod, but the shots were too poorly aimed and Skull-11 dodged them easily. Then in a quick maneuver the Valkyrie snapped into battloid and rose straight up, firing down on Jerry's plane as it passed underneath him. The shots missed by a wide margin, but as Jerry came back around in fighter mode the battloid dropped out of the sky unpowered and descended into the jungles below, out of sight from his guns. Jerry followed the gesture and transformed to battloid, but in the half second delay it took to complete the transformation, SKull-11 rose out of the jungle just behind him in gerwalk mode and shredded his torso with a short burst. The Valkyrie tumbled out of the sky and exploded beneath the treeline.

Batista snapped back into fighter mode and banked upwards into the clouds, immediately picking out the next target: Lieutenant Arriaga was right on Ensign Madison's tail.

"He should be sick all the time if he's gonna fly like that," Hikaru said with a chuckle.

Madison rolled over and dove for the ground, but switched into gerwalk as she did and came to a hovering stop in the air as Arriaga rushed past hier in an overshoot. The evasive maneuver would have saved her life, if only Skull-11 hadn't descended from above with a long burst from its gunpod, blasting the fighter to bits where it lingered too long in the sky. Without even hesitating, Batista switched into fighter mode and dove in behind Skull-3. Lieutenant Arriaga saw the attack coming well in advance; he switched into gerwalk and darted up and out of the path of Skull-11. To his surprise the fighter didn't overshoot him as he expected, but tilted the nose up and flared in the air, transforming to gerwalk mode and firing another long burst in his direction at increasingly shorter range. Now it was his Arriaga's to run; he tilted the nose towards the ground and fired the afterburner, trading speed for altitude. He pulled out of the dive at close to Mach 3, but glanced over his shoulder just an instant before a single shell from Skull-11's gunpod sliced through his left wing, tearing it off at the root.

The Valkyrie started to tumble at it's high speed, and in a panic Arriaga transformed to gerwalk and cut his velocity, then dropped into the jungle below in soldier mode. The instant his feet hit the ground, the battloid Skull-11 appeared directly overhead, dropped in above him with gunpod drawn. It landed directly in front of him and started to fire, but only by a split-second reflex Arriaga managed to sidestep the line of fire, reached out and grabbed the battloid by the arm. With one quick movement and a sweep of the feet, he slammed Skull-11 to its back between a pair of tall trees, then leveled his own gunpod to finish him off...

A burst of fire from above tore through the canopy above his head. Arriaga dodged to the side from Monty's gunpod, then fired back as the battloid circled above him. The twin streams of shells passed each other in the air, but Arriaga's was more accurate; most of Mony's shells missed their target, but good part of Arriaga's cut through Monty's cockpit and shot the Valkyrie from the sky once again. The battloid fell to the jungle floor in flames, but too late Arriaga looked down again and found himself staring down the tri-barrels of Skull-11's gunpod. "Aw shit..."

Batista's gunpod cut Skull-3 apart where it stood, scattering its parts across the jungle floor. Skull-11 sat up against the tree and started to heave back up to its feet, but no sooner was it standing erect again did a single gerwalk burst out from between the trees, the shells of its gunpod hitting their mark. Skull-11 just managed to fire back with its own gunpod before it met its fiery end; both Valkyries simultaneously erupted in explosions.

Hikaru laughed out loud as three of the simulator pods popped open and their enraged pilots climbed out onto the deck, and laughed even harder as the rest of the squadron likewise climbed out to see what the fuss was all about. Monty led the charge, with Madison, Arriaga and Jerry right at his sides as the other pilots gathered behind them for what they were sure would be a rather amusing non-simulated fight. "Batista!" Arriaga shouted, "Get outa that simulator! I'm gonna run your ass up a flag pole!"

Still laughing, Hikaru stepped out of the control room and joined the others in the crowd, watching from the opposite side of the simulator pod as the canopy lifted and the pilot climbed out, enough anger assembled to match all three of theirs. But something was immediately amiss; instead of Batista, the squadron was greeted by an angry snarl as a four year old girl leapt from the cockpit, stomped across the deck and sharply kicked Jerry in the shin. "Jerk!" She shouted, and stormed out of the room in frustration.

All twelve pilots watched Miko in stunned silence as she stormed away, then looked to each other in confusion as if expecting to find the answer on each other's faces. Jerry rubbed his head in confusion, staring back and forth from the door to Batista's simulator, "What'd she kick ME for?"

"Because you're the one who shot her down, man." Arriaga said, suddenly remembering. "She's mad because she didn't see you coming."

"What! She killed all four of us, what's she got to be mad about?"

"C'mon, you know how kids are..."

"Colonel," Madison stepped forward, her voice a mixture of fear and anger, "Where the hell did she learn how to do that?"

"I don't know and I don't care." Hikaru was fighting the urge to collapse on the ground laughing. He counted his blessings; if Roy had seen this, he might have been hospitalized from laughing too hard. "The important thing is the four of you let yourselves got shot down by a kindergartener. What do you suppose we do about this?"

All four of them stared at their feet in shame. "I guess, we... could run more simulations?"

"Yeah, that'll be the day." Hikaru laughed to himself as he thought of a perfectly fitting punishment. "Well here's your penance: for the next five months, all four of you are gonna take turns babysitting."

All four of them looked up in shock and anger.

"Oh, c'mon!" Jerry shouted, still rubbing the sting in his shin.

"C'mon nothing! I don't take this from my squadron! You get blown out of the sky by a four year old, there's gonna be consequences!"

"That's not fair, Colonel!" Madison was almost pleading by now, "You've been teaching her all the trick moves and you know it!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Arriaga, said, shaking his fist, "She pulled the Wild Turkey maneuver to get on my six! You're the only one on this ship who knows how to do that!"

Hikaru chuckled, "Okay, so maybe I did teach her a thing or two... but she's just a little kid. It's not like it was _me_ flying against you in there."

All of them fell silent, exchanging another round of nervous glances. Arriaga stared at the ground and answered cautiously, "Well you know... for a second there..."

Hikaru knew where this was going, and unsure whether to take it as an insult to him or a compliment to Miko, he decided to steer clear of the entire conversation. "The mess is serving up lunch in twenty minutes. You all go stuff your faces, and if you still wanna fly a bit I'll open the room again later tonight if we don't have a sortie."  
.

—11:35 GST—  
Boris checked his dials again and pushed down on the feet. Both legs and the main back thrusters fired at once, lifting the suit a few inches above the ground over the test platform. He was eternally grateful he had learned how to balance this thing by now; no more bruises for him today. But the temperature reading in the main engine manifold was a problem; every time he fired his thrusters the reading shot through the roof. This time was no different; the suit was only airborne for ten seconds before the thermal reading hit the red line and the computer ran an emergency shutdown program and began venting reactor coolant in all directions. The suit set down on the platform again with a thud and Boris watched the core temperature begin its tedious drop back into operating levels. "It's no good, Major. Every time we fire the rockets it burns right up."

Kai Chan walked up the platform with his safety goggles on his forehead and looked over the thruster pack. "Think we ought to change the reactant mass?"

"To what? We're already using the lightest stuff we got. We go any lighter and the suit won't even get off the ground. And even then, it'll STILL melt down every time we use the damn verniers!"

Kai Chan found himself completely stuck now. They had worked through thousands of problems with this suit in the past few weeks, redesigned almost every square inch of it and reconfigured half of the major systems one by one until they were perfect. He thought for sure the new control boards he had finished that morning would solve the problem. "What does it look like on the computer? Not enough coolant getting to the core or what?"

"I'm not sure." Boris opened the hatch and Kai Chan plugged his handheld into the CPU on his HUD system. "There's plenty of reactor coolant, but the thermal output is way too high. This shouldn't be happening like this... maybe the reactor's too big or something?

Lieutenant Beecher seemed to appear out of thin air next to him with a notebook in hand and looked over the data briefly. "I just got off the phone with the think-tanks at Macron Industries. They said this _is_ the smallest turbine they've got. And their nuclear specialist said the output doesn't even matter at this size, there's just no way to slow the reaction rate enough and still hit critical mass. You go _too_ slow and you're just grinding ions."

Kai Chan groaned in disappointment. It was madness to think they had come so far just to be stopped by such a ridiculous technical fluke. "I don't buy it. There's got to be a way to control this thing. My computer says that reactor's putting out enough energy to drive the suit to Mach 7 or more, now all we have to do is figure out how to _harness_ that energy."

All of them stared at him sadly, wishing so badly they could do think of a way but knowing full well that the laws of physics had already stopped them in their tracks. Impossible was impossible, there was no going around it. But for a man who couldn't spell the word "impossible" even on a good day, the answer seemed plainly obvious. "Why not jus use heavier fuel? I reckon we already tried dat lahter stuff, and dat aint working..."

All three of them looked at Forest with a childish expression. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talkin bout fuel. What's da heaviest reactant mass we gowt?"

Beecher thought for a moment, going through the list of fighters and missiles she knew of. "Berrenaug Salanitz, I guess. That's what the battleships are using."

"Well dat's gowta have a higher specific heat, raht? And we aint getting nowheres wit the lower energy mass, raht? Well, we put some'pn heavy in it wit a higher density and a higher specific heat, reinforce da feed pumps to da reactant chamber, it'll soak up dat extra heat, an maybe give 'em an extra thousand kilos o thrust too, I reckon."

All three of them stared at him for almost a minute before bothering to say anything else, and when they did, Boris was the one to break the silence. "What exactly did you do to get kicked out of high school?" It wasn't something he ever thought about, but suddenly he was curious.

"Well... I had me alittle accident wit muh third year science prowject. My pyrotechnics display blew up the east wing o da building..."

"That figures." Kai Chan turned to Beecher and Boris and sighed slowly. "What the hell? It's worth a try isn't it?"  
.

—19:40 GST—  
Varcus looked over the blueprints again with certain disproval, not entirely disliking the designs he was seeing but somewhat offended that these designs actually existed to begin with. He had a responsibility to keep Alpha Factory's production steady in order to keep up with the outpouring of volunteers from the planet's population, but this new weapon being manufactured behind his back seemed like a serious insult to his efforts. "So, to clarify," He said to the Protocran standing in his office, a perky little woman wearing what appeared to be an extremely shabby protoculture Naval uniform thousands of years older than the woman who wore it. He would have laughed at her appearance if he wasn't so annoyed by her presence, "you used your father's political connections to buy space on Omega Factory to build these three prototypes without consulting me or anyone else on the matter, then you went ahead and borrowed five destroyers from my assembly line—also without my permission—just to help test the new systems, and now here you are asking ME to evaluate these new weapons for mass production. Does that about cover it?"

"Yes, sir, it does." Sekkai said with a broad smile. "I'm not really asking you to take some time out of your busy schedule to check out these prototypes, I mean you've got enough to do already. Actually, I came here requesting that you deploy one of the three vessels to the front line as a… think of it as a field test. We'll let the soldiers on the front decide how they like the design, organize a full report and you can decide based on that."

Varcus quickly warmed up to the idea. At the very least it meant that this walking bag of smiles and her little pet project would be out of his hair. "You have a crew assembled and everything?"

"We've been training some officers on Kaderak-Three for several weeks now since the prototypes were released from the factory. One of them is combat ready and we do have a full crew compliment, though we will need a fighter attachment and a few mobile infantry units."

Varcus rubbed his eyes. "Dumokai Verten is a quick learner for a man who's never been in space before."

"That's what I said, but he's adamant that the program proceeds." Sekkai said.

Varcus had to pause to make sure he wasn't missing something. "You almost make it sound like this is all his idea. What did YOU have to say about it?"

"Well… we've been investigating the wreckage of a downed Supervision Army destroyer for years, even before the Megaroad arrived here. With all of our equipment finally restored we were able make incredible leaps in our investigations… and of course my father borrowed the designs for the Victory class cruisers to augment the combat capability of the vessel."

"Yes, I can see that." Varcus said, glancing at the part of the blueprint outlining the vessel's transformation sequence. "Well, the Dumokai's intentions seem perfectly clear on this matter and I'm not about to get myself in MORE trouble by alienating a member of the Elder's Supreme Council. Which ship are you sending in with the 7th fleet?"

"Nupesiet-Draenitz class destroyer Zjendiel, the one I arrived on sir."

At the mention of the subject, Varcus suddenly made the connection, the reason why this woman seemed to be wearing old protoculture naval colors. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was also something weird about the way she was wearing it… either way, once she got into space with the new ship, the other officers from the former UN Spacy would probably get her squared away. "You're going with it aren't you? As an observer?"

"No Sir, as Captain."

"Captain?" Varcus dropped the papers on the desk and slouched in his chair, "How much combat experience do you have, Sekkai?"

"I did a six-month stint as commander of ARMD-034. I did get one commendation from Fleet Command for my performance in that raid two months ago."

"I see."_ That's something to work with, but..._ "You don't think it would be a good idea to put a more experienced commander in the Captain's chair?"

Sekkai shook her head. "I don't really have a choice, Mr. Varucs.If this project fails, my father promised to cut me out of his will and sell me to slave trader. At his age I don't know if he'll really do it, but I don't want to take that chance. Can you understand that?"

"Can I understand?" The statement seemed to be one aimed primarily at Zentradi, but it wasn't especially surprising. He remembered the shriveled carcass of a man sitting in his seat at the head of the Elders Council. He was one of the oldest chair holders in the entire Republic, and by far the wealthiest. He wasn't sure what Sekkai feared most, being sold as a slave or losing her inheritance. "Just be careful out there, Sekkai. If this gamble works out I might look forward to working with you on in the future."

"Thank you, Sir." Sekkai bowed slightly and turned to leave the office.

"One more thing Sekkai," Varcus said, stopping her in the doorway. "Your father makes no secret that he's unhappy about me being in charge of Alpha Factory, and I think this whole situation with you gun-destroyers is a perfect example. Just out of curiosity, how do YOU feel about me?"

Sekkai turned around and smiled again. "Well… I do think you're very well engineered for your position."

"Thank you for the compliment but that wasn't my question. Be honest with me now, Captain, how do you feel?"

Her smile faded for the first time since she'd been in his office. Finally, Varcus was starting to see her true face. "Okay. You know, I was a candidate for the Production Manager of Alpha Factory to replace General Hallas. It angers me, quite a bit actually, that the council chose you for this position instead of me. I don't like you, I don't respect what you stand for or where you come from, and the only reason I can even stand to be in the room with you is because of the fact that when this war is over and everyone comes back to their senses, you'll be sent back with your own kind and I'll be first in line to replace you."

Varcus stared at her uniform again and finally figured out what it was that seemed so odd about it. He looked her over in more detail, then he smiled. "Thank you for your honesty Sekkai. By the way, have you ever worn a naval uniform like that before?"

"Ummm… well not like this one, I got used to the GSDF uniforms. But my father used to tell me stories about how our people used to roam the stars…"

"Right, right. Well, you have a nice voyage. I'll see you again in eight months." Sekkai bowed again and ducked out of the office. Varcus watched her go, then chuckled to himself at this wonderfully absurd woman who seemed so eager to be rid of him. For just a moment he felt guilty, but then he amused himself with the idea that she would find out for herself that her pants were on backwards.


	10. Chapter 9: The Second Moblization

Chapter 9: The Second Mobilization

—January 1, 2018—  
—02:15 GST—  
Jikanna-Delcaan is a system of almost unmatched splendor and beauty. There are eighteen planets in this double star system, seven of them solid, the three largest ones being each the size of Neptune and supporting an earthlike eco-system where protoculture colonies once thrived. SDF-2 and the combined first and second fleets had been raising hell in this system, striking enemy ships with fighter waves and reaction missiles to knock out as many of the smaller ships as possible. The enemy countered in kind, having a more than two to one advantage in numbers over the combined Phoenix and Megaroad fleets. After two weeks of battle, the Gallaron forces had lost thirty ships and hundreds of fighters, almost a third of their strength to enemy vessels while still knocking out half of the enemy fleet. The battle was now coalescing into one major brawl in low orbit near Jikanna-III's largest moon where the GSDF would try to support a major fighter strike against the Supervision Army in hopes of damaging more of their smaller cruisers and destroyers, therefore isolating their command ships and battle wagons for their gunners. Even so, it was a daunting task, with over one hundred and forty enemy ships in this system from one of Lazuli's recently re-built action groups that until then had been waiting patiently for her scout units to find a target.

And then there was Victory. The entire ship was already at their battle stations when the 9th fleet defolded in low orbit of the moon with a birds-eye view of the steadily intensifying battlefield. They were making their presence by approaching with their backs to the sun; the enemy would detect the defold but they wouldn't be able to figure out just where they had come from. Victory was about to pounce. "Fighter status?" Imura said, her eyes focusing on the distant lights of battle.

Lieutenant Gouraz was already a step ahead of them. "All designated squadrons now on alert-zero. All mobile infantry standing by on deck."

Imura could already see the powered armors standing in squads on the deck, carefully positioning themselves to stay out of the way of the Victory's many fixed weapon systems; and not one among them was a Queadlunn-Rau. They were all the new Stormlord armors Beecher and her women had been fussing about, but after this battle she would accept no further complaints. "All fighters, commence operation! Major Lao, clear the deck!"

To Kai Chan, the order was music to his ears. "This is Thug-Zero. You all heard her, clear the deck and proceed to targets! We're the final defense line against enemy mecha." All of the armors pushed off the deck by squads, responding only by prompt and spirited action. Most of them were armed with GU-11 gunpods, others with Zentradi energy pistols or small grenade launchers modified from the old Destroid squadrons. All pushed off and rose into space at the same time as the fighters started to launch around them and the missile tubes on the sides of the ship opened up.

Lieutenant Merrick at the tactical consol waited until the fighters had enough of a head start, then pushed the engines to full thrust and moved the entire fleet closer and closer, bringing them into near point blank range. Even with all the interference from Jikanna's unusually violent sun, they would be plainly visible at this range. "Fire control, plot solutions all missiles."

"Already done, sir. Target package 104. All other ships confirm individual target spreads and the destroyers are moving into firing position."

Imura held for a moment to give the rest of the mecha some time to advance. She still had a doubt about all this. The mobile infantry was supposed to be the ship's final line of defense as usual, but here she was doing something so blatantly reckless and keeping a leash on all of those perfectly skilled girls out there... "This is Delta Vee to Thug-Zero. I'm changing your orders. Proceed to forward deployment along with fighter unit and disable enemy carrier units. Fighter units will provide close-air-support, so get in there and take out those carriers any way you can."

Kai Chan licked his lips and clenched his fists around his gunpod. This just kept getting better... "Thug-Zero, acknowledged. Marines, we've got some ass to kick!" He pushed his thrusters forward and shot faster into space towards the enemy fleet, the other four hundred powered armors of his battalion following right behind him. His own squad was right on his heals, all of them itching to find out what these new armors handled like in actual combat. Their screens were already lit up wit the radar blips of enemy mecha closing in to attack them. "Well they're sure glad to see us..." Kai Chan said under his breath.

Imura was getting nervous. Enemy mecha were closing in and even as they got closer, some of the enemy ships had started firing at her fleet from afar. They were already well within medium firing range of the enemy ships, but she wanted to be closer. The ice-cold nerves of a meltran officer were in total control of her emotions, but as she closed in she felt the very real urge to get this fight started. "Mia, green light all target packages and fire all tubes."

"Now sir?"

"Now!"

"Acknowledged... commencing firing." Mia said nervously, sending out orders to the rest of the fleet while Lieutenant Merrick fired their own missile spread. All of the Thor class destroyers each fired off half of their missiles tubes and all of the Zentradi cruisers fired everything they had along with SDF-09. Almost eight hundred reaction missiles swarmed into space and charged in, passing the fighters and powered armors like they were standing still, crossing the rest of the gulf of vacuum between them before finally striking their targets in low orbit.

The missiles didn't all go off at once; for maximum effect they had been programmed for a special pattern. More than half of them cut off their rockets early and fell behind the others, so the first wave detonated amongst the enemy vessels in a kind of nuclear ripple from one end of the fleet to the other to confuse the sensors of the surviving ships. At least four consecutive blasts rocked each of the enemy vessels, sending many of them into a spin and smashing the force barriers on just about all of them. And then the second wave hit their targets a few seconds later, finishing the work of the first and exploding over the hulls of irradiated and suddenly unprotected ships. Over a hundred ships registered direct hits, of which over half of them were either crippled or destroyed.

The light from the explosions burned new light into the hearts of the fighter and armor pilots closing in, and by some odd coincidence the enemy mecha came into firing range at almost that exact moment. "This is Thug-Zero, split up by squads but keep each other covered! C'mon gang, let's kick em!" Kai Chan and his entire squad locked on to the first group; a battalion of Glaug battlepods maneuvering to attack them. He choose three pods and fired all fifteen missiles from his chest launcher, joining them with a burst from his pulse laser and his auto-cannons. The burst of fire smashed the first pod's canopy and shredded its lone occupant, and the missiles slammed into the other two and blew both of them apart before they could even get off a shot. The other fifty or so battlepods in the division targeted all eight powered armors of his squad and opened fire, almost blinding him with the light of plasma cannons. It was all he could do to keep moving in an effort to throw off their aim, and every second one of those beams shot right past his head...

Kai Chan noticed a flash of light from behind him, this one even more brilliant than the one from Victory's missiles. He knew it must have been the counter attack from the Supervision Army hitting the reaction barriers from the 7th fleet, though he was certain that catching the enemy ships off guard like this had limited their capacity to strike back. A spread of missiles from a Beecher and Alakos's armors dropped a more than a dozen Glaug pods in front of him with a single pass and now all 8 of them moved into the midst of the enemy mecha and started firing away with gunpods, some at less than arms length apart from the very mecha they were shooting at. Kai Chan plunged into the mix along with Private Forest and Yuri, each blasting away with gunpods into what could only be described as a spaceborne riot.

Not even a hundred kilometers away, two reaction missiles detonated under the bow of an enemy destroyer, snapping the entire vessel in half like a brittle twig. The VF-1F section banked and started to look for a new target as Broli's fighter wing blasted a group of fighter pods with their laser cannons before they could close in from the rear. He kept one eye on the flight of E-Valks he was flying escort for and one eye on the enemy mecha around him, making sure not to loose sight of either for any period of time. But Victory's timely arrival to this sector was more of a distraction than it was a benefit. "This is Viper 100 to Delta Two, what the hell is Victory doing? She's charging the enemy fleet like she's suicidal..."

Corina wasn't really sure what Imura was thinking, but as the ship closed she could see it was transforming into battle mode, which gave her the general idea of what the great meltran was up to. "Never mind the Victory, just watch out for yourself. The situation is under control."

"Roger that, Delta." Broli shot a glance at SDF-09, still closing in at top speed even as it transformed into its battle configuration, but then turned his attention back as several of the E-Valks came under fire from a few variable powered armors. He fired off a burst from his laser cannons to destroy the first one, but without warning all four of the E-Valks he had been guarding spun around in battloid and blasted away with the particle cannons over their shoulders and their gunpods, surprising their pursuers and destroying all of them with just one burst. "Well then..." Broli chuckled to himself. "Even if they ARE retrofitted for bombing missions, they're still Valkyries at heart..." Broli noticed the lighting change as something eclipsed the sun behind him. He allowed himself just a moments distraction to look at it before he realized something amazing. Running with reaction barriers on, SDF-09 and the entire 7th fleet had closed to within a few thousand meters of the enemy ships, with Victory headed directly for the enemy's flag ship. A Supervision battleship moved into position to cut them off, only to be smashed into atoms by the deadly beam of Victory's main cannon. Broli squinted through the explosion of the blast, then punched up Victory's contact code unable to take any more of Imura's surprises today. "Captain Elensh, what the hell is this all about!"

"We can't give that flagship a chance to escape, but we can't get past their screening cruisers either. This is the most efficient way." she closed the channel again as every ship in the fleet simultaneously dropped their reaction barriers and fired off all of their reaction missiles. Another hundred warheads slipped into space around the Supervision fleet, this time swarming out in all directions around the enemy forces even as Corina's fleet, a bit farther away, added to the bombardment with their own spread of missiles. The powered armors and variable fighters near ground immediately cut in the afterburner and removed themselves from the vicinity of targeted vessels, leaving the hordes of not-so-intelligent enemy mecha to their fates in the nuclear inferno that suddenly sprang to life bellow them. With another sky-scorching display of energy release, dozens more enemy ships were scattered into the solar winds. Suddenly, the enemy fleet was actually outnumbered, and the return fire of reaction missiles was again deflected by the barriers of the Gallaron warships.

Still, Victory accelerated. Imura knew that with the enemy fleet having been taken by surprise like this and suffering such dramatic losses in such a short time, the standard procedure would be to fold the command ship to another location and await reinforcements from Bokata or wherever their forward rallying point had been established. But Imura wasn't about to let them leave... "Engines, give me full power! Get us in closer!"

"Engines at fu..." Three reaction missiles exploded one after another against the barriers, with more of them rising up from the cruisers around the enemy flagship. Two more missiles hit the barrier in unison and then the system snapped off altogether. "Barrier overload! Shields destroyed sir!"

"Grappler program 18D! We'll have to plow through them!" Imura could already see some of the enemy escort cruisers taking positions to target her with another barrage of missiles. There were twelve ships around the command vessel, but it would only take one or two missiles to completely destroy her ship. She needed to disable at least one of them before it got off hits deadly missiles to give her grappler crews more of a fighting chance...

One of the cruisers was surrounded by tiny flickers of light and then it exploded, and Imura could see little points of light moving around a second cruiser as it began to fly apart at the seams. These weren't her fighters, they were the E-Valk squadrons from the Megaroad, apparently breaking off from their normal target package to give her some support. A burst of laser and particle cannons exploded out from the four Zentradi cruisers behind her, striking down three more of the defending ships at once. Another barrage from a different direction—SDF-2's main laser cannons—cut through the enemy formation and shredded five of them at once, leaving two cruisers still standing between Victory and the command ship.

With no warning, a tight, concentrated beam of energy reached out from somewhere behind Victory and struck one of the cruisers on its port side, burning through its defensive barrier instantly before ripping an entire section out of the hull. Everyone in the fleet suddenly looked off towards the source of the blast and marveled at what they were now seeing: SDG-01 Zjendiel, the ship most of the command staff had been calling the "Superdimensional Runt" was diving in on the two cruisers at speeds beyond the wildest dreams of a Thor class destroyer, and as it closed in it fired its portside arm cannon. The second shot cleaved the ship in half amidships, and as a finale the little destroyer roared up to the last cruiser, came to a dead stop four hundred meters behind its engines and fired both shoulder cannons straight up its tailpipe. The beams drilled through the engine room and through the entire hull of the ship before blasting through the bow, leaving the vessel writhing in death throes with fires belching from deep within her hull.

SDF-Victory stormed past this sudden opening, past the triumphant little gun destroyer, past the hulks of the dead cruisers that had been knocked out of its way, right up to the command ship as it powered up its fold drives for its escape route. "Grappler Program Zero! Go for it Merrick!"

The tactical officer entered the program and set the enemy ship as a target; on command, the computer half turned the ship sideways as it closed in, brought back one of the grappler modules and fully deployed the massive fingers of the unit into a fist. And then the strike; The fist of the grapplers smashed right through the outer hull, crushed bulkheads on its way through and smashed through the crew stasis sections in the bowels of the ship before finally grinding to a stop deep within the heart of the ship near the fold drives.

The command ship wasn't going anywhere now, and for that matter neither was Victory; as long as it was locked up with the command ship like this, the enemy fleet didn't dare try to shoot at it. But a multitude of tiny hatches began to open up along the hull of the grappler module on the Victory. From each hatch sprang a tiny rocket-driven warhead, erupting from the grappler and winding down the corridors of the ship in every direction even as Victory began to withdraw the grappler from the hull of the vessel. All of them detonated at once deep within the hull, the explosions gutting the command ship from the inside as the main hull began to disintegrate from the inside and its innards collapsed in fire.

.  
—January 3, 2018—  
—22:34 GST—  
Staff Sergeant Horace had a stack of paperwork on his desk that almost touched the ceiling of his office. He didn't want to be here any longer than he had to, but with all the volunteers that streamed into the recruiting office there was simply no end to all the paperwork he had to fill out for these people. Years ago it had been easy, one or two bored youths would wander into his office and ask for some information and of course he would suggest a few possible positions for them, but now there were people coming in to the GSDF Recruitment Office dozens at a time, all of them asking to be placed on either the space forces or the Army Corp. of Engineers. Just as his luck would have it, 11 out of every 12 people who came in only spoke Zentradi, so of course he would have to have one of them interpret for him or else fit all of them with translators as soon as they came through the door.

He had just finished one mountain of papers and was about to move on to another when the door to his office exploded open and his assistant, Staff Sergeant Morris burst into the room. "Horace, check this shit out! You're not gonna believe it!"

"Jack, I got lots of paperwork to finish..."

"C'mon Sergeant, this is important!" Gleason grabbed the man by the sleeve and pulled him over his desk like an old sock, dragged him out of his office and into the lobby of the recruitment office where a dozen people were talking with recruiters about joining the service. "Right over here, you're gonna LOVE this!" He pushed Horace towards one of the desks where a woman was sitting with her hair bound in a waist length braid. Horace was annoyed at being interrupted from his work for another random newbie, but if Gleason thought it was this important... "Sorry that took so long ma'am." Gleason said as they approached her from behind.

"No problem, I'm in no hurry." She said sweetly.

Horace sat down clumsily in the chair on the other side of the desk and brought out a pen and paper. "Okay then, Sergeant Gleason tells me you're..." He looked at her face for the first time and suddenly his mind when blank. "You're... you're..."

"Interested in..." Minmei added.

"Interested in joining the... ummm..."

"Defense forces." She finished.

"Right." Horace took a deep breath and put his notebook on the table. "Ummm... aren't you...?"

"Actually," She jumped in, "I'm not much of a fighter... in fact I _hate_ fighting. I'd like to sign on with SDF-Victory with the Navy band, or maybe the media corp, if that's not a problem."

Horace stared for a few moments. "Oh, yeah... well... are you really sure that's a good idea?"

Minmei stared at him. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well... don't take this the wrong way, but... I mean I don't know you that well, but at a guess I'd say you're _hardly_ soldier material. You should really think about this, you have your family to consider, and a career and..."

"Sergeant, I've had alot of time to think about that raid last year, and I've decided that it's more important to me that the war ends quickly so more innocent people won't be at risk. The Supervision Army doesn't have any culture, maybe that's their only weakness?" Horace stared at her for a moment, then leaned forward slightly and sniffed the air. "No, I haven't been drinking!" Minmei shouted, reading his actions correctly. "And I've been thinking about this for a really long time! I can use my voice the way pilots use missiles, and since we're at war, that's the way it's gotta be!"

Horace nodded. "If you insist. You know, normally we wouldn't be able to send you to the position of your choice... I think in your case I'll make a little exception. But if you don't mind my asking, what's so special about the Victory anyway? Got some guy waiting for you up there?"

Minmei rolled her eyes. "Not that it's any of your business, but no."

.  
—24:18 GST—  
Offensive operations were working well, she gathered from the tactical and situation reports. Shikari's fleet was moving again, and Hallas and Barzam were even advancing forward slightly. The only reason to be even slightly worried was an explosion in Alpha Factory that had halted the assembly of the next group of destroyers for seven hours and disabled one of the assembly lines for several days, but these little snags aside it was all going fairly well. The next group of raw recruits was coming up through training, and in six more months another three hundred Thor class destroyers and twenty more Phoenix class cruisers would be sent into combat with fresh crews and their own variable fighters being manufactured right alongside them. The Monitor and the 4th fleet was the only group NOT creeping into enemy space now, actually taking up the rear and following along just behind the front for the first time in weeks. Misa was in a position to direct fleet operations without worrying about her own command group being intercepted by enemy ships, but this still meant she had to think of some way to quickly exploit their sudden...

"Misa!" Hikaru burst into the door with Miko scampering along behind him, trying to keep up but not quite understanding the urgency of the situation. "Honey, guess what! I think Miko might be a genius!"

Misa sighed and rubbed her forehead. Hikaru did this about once a month now, when at some point he would forget that their daughter would be five years old next March and mistake her for the bottle-feeding baby that had so completely mesmerized him not too long ago. "What did she do this time?"

"Look!" He held up a rough drawing in his hand and slapped it down on the table in front of her. "She did this in school!"

Misa looked at the picture for a moment. It was crayon drawing of Miko, Hikaru, Yu and Misa with each of their names over the heads. On a number of levels, she was impressed; Miko used the words "Mommy Ichijo" and "Daddy Ichijo" when naming either of them, and referred to herself as "Me Ichijo." What amused Misa the most was that she used "Holtora" in Zentradi letters to describe Yu, and also the fact that all the Js were written backwards and there was a smiley face in all the Os. "It's cute." She said, alittle too tired to think about it in depth. "What're _you_ so excited about?"

"She's knows her last name, and she speaks three languages _fluently_!" Hikaru said, jumping up excitedly. "I didn't know MY last name when I was four, and I could barely speak _one_ language! And look at how she wrote all the words! She spelled them all perfectly and..."

"Hikaru, that's pretty normal for a four year old. Get over yourself, will you?"

Hikaru seemed confused by her reaction, and off to one side of the room Miko was staring at spot on the wall, oblivious to anything else in the world and therefore not much help to him now. "I'm telling you, she's gifted or something! Did you know she can read Zentradi _ and_ Japanese? And even a little English at that! And just the other day she was playing in the simulator and..."

"Shot down your entire squadron?"

"Not all of them," Hikaru shrugged. "She didn't get Arriaga this time."

"_This_ time..." Misa sighed. "Hikaru, I know she has alot of fun with those simulations, but I don't feel comfortable teaching our daughter how to fly planes and kill people."

"Why not?"

"What do you mean why not! She's only _four_!"

Hikaru shrugged dismissively. "C'mon, Misa. It's just a video game to her. In real combat it would be totally different."

"I don't know. I'm not sure she understands the difference..." Then she thought back to Koru's previous evaluation if Miko's mental states, and sighed again, "Or maybe she does understand, and she just doesn't care. Doesn't look at the big picture, right?" Misa looked at the tactical charts again and could already envision the pile of paperwork she was going to have to go through. "Maybe there's no point complaining about it. You can't have Ichijo DNA and not be in obsessed with aviation, and there's also Hayase genetics to consider. When she starts math, they might have to put put her in a special class."

"No way! Try a _gifted_ class!" Hikaru said, running across the room for a refrigerator magnet and posted the picture up next to Miko's other achievements, partially eclipsing the drawing she did of Taosan and Yu that day he asked Hikaru if Minmei was his second wife. "Just you watch Misa! This little one's gonna..." He stopped mid sentence as something on the counter caught his eye, a wooden box he had seen somewhere before in the house, a mystery he alone had once investigated. "Hey isn't that...?"

"Isn't what?" Misa turned half around to see what he was looking at, but her view obstructed by the doorway. "Hikaru, what're you looking at?"

Hikaru picked up the box and looked at it. There was a small lock on one side, with Misa's key chain dangling out of the lock by one small key. "You remember me asking you about this box like... a year ago?"

"What box..." With a gasp of realization, Misa was suddenly very awake. Her wheelchair was set against the wall on the other side of the room, and she didn't have time to try and get to it. Instead, she decided to tempt fate and heaved herself out of the chair with her arms alone. "That's nothing, don't worry about it!" She said quickly, using her walking stick as a kind of third leg to hobble across the floor. She made it exactly three steps before her legs gave out completely and she fell to the ground like a ton of bricks. "Damn...!"

"You okay Misa?" Hikaru came out of the kitchen with the box in his hand. Miko scampered up to her side and knelt down, but the great Admiral Ichijo had no intention of staying put. She pushed up a bit and made a grab at the box, but Hikaru held it just beyond reach. "I'll take that as a yes..." He turned the key to the box and opened it, stared at its contents for a few moments, then down at Misa with a surprised look on his face. "Where'd you get these?"

Misa sighed and rolled over onto her back. "They were gift."

Hikaru reached into the box and pulled up one of the gifts. "A hand-rolled protocran ukei-chaat." He sniffed the side of it and looked over it again. "These are a 20 yulins a pop."

"Are they really? Commander Gashi must be a very..."

"His wife likes these." Hikaru closed the box and locked it again. "When used as incense, it's an extremely powerful aphrodisiac. But of course you're perfectly aware of that, aren't you?"

"They're not mine!" Misa said lamely. "Honestly, they're not mine!"

"Sure they're not. And that little canteen you've been hiding your coat pocket is full of lemonade."

Misa sat up slowly and Hikaru grabbed her hand to pull her back up. "Can't I keep ANYTHING secret around here?"

"Not with our genius daughter watching your every move." She looked first at Miko, smiling shyly at her side, then Hikaru as he pulled her back up to her feet and started to carry her back over to the desk. "I have other spies too you know, but Miko's the most helpful. She notices the little things us big people never see."

"I'm sure she does." Misa shot her an evil glance, to which Miko giggled playfully. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't say anything, I just..."

"I know, I know, but this does explain something else I was wondering about." He set Misa back down on the desk and sat down across the table. "I think now might be a good time to tell you something..."

Misa switched on the holographic projector again and went back to looking over tactical action reports. "Can it wait a couple of hours? I REALLY need to finish this."

"It's about what happened to you on Megaroad-01, something I didn't want to tell you."

Misa looked up slowly, and turned the holographic display back off. "Should I be worried?"

"Koru doesn't think so, but there are... concerns."

"That DOES sound serious. Why don't you take it from the beginning."

Hikaru cleared his throat and thought of a good way to begin. "Well... right before you went into space with the Megaroad-01 and I came to visit you..." Miko climbed up onto Hikaru's lap and immediately started on a new doodle with a crayon and a piece of paper on the table. "You know what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah." Misa eyed Miko to make sure she wasn't paying attention. "What about it?"

"Well when you went into battle with the fleet... you see it turns out you were..."

A light on one corner of the table started flashing and the holographic projector opened a comm window to Commander Gashi on the bridge. "Admiral Hayase, we just received word from SDF-2 in the Jikanna system. Enemy fleets in that sector have been eliminated and the joint forces of the 1st, 2nd and 7th fleets are now splitting up in pursuit."

Misa and Hikaru both forgot everything that had happened until that point. Hikaru was overjoyed, but Misa felt her stomach twist into a knot. "Retreating? That's impossible!" She said, leaning forward more.

"Also, General Hallas reports they've repelled an enemy assault force in the Zjen-Kari system and the new gun emplacements there have been successfully restored. The enemy forces are in retreat and Hallas's ships are splitting up to continue the pursuit. And... another report, the 8th and 9th fleets have established a dedicated defensive screen at two of our advanced outposts close to the enemy front lines. It looks like we're driving them back across the board, sir!"

Another window opened with an updated version of the tactical display she had been looking at only minutes before. The enemy fleets were all on the run now, though an indeterminate multitude of vessels were fighting the Zentradi ships on the opposite front almost a thousand light years away. But while Hikaru's reaction was one of pure elation, but Misa was very visibly on the frontier of a severe anxiety attack. "They're ignoring us! Dammit, why now!"

Gashi seemed confused by the remark. "What do you mean Admiral? Isn't this good news?"

"No, it's NOT good news! It means Gallaron is no longer their target!"

"So?" Hikaru scratched his head,

"Think about it! What was their reason for going after Gallaron before? The secrets of protoculture are down there somewhere, and Lacul wants them for himself! What could possibly make him give up on taking Gallaron?"

Hikaru and Gashi seemed to come to the same conclusion at the same time. "You mean...!"

"Oh my god!" Hikaru said.

"The next batch of cruisers and destroyers won't be ready for another six and a half months! If they attack us before then..." Misa looked at the tactical display again to confirm what she already knew. The enemy fleet wasn't retreating at all. They were regrouping, probably at a major base at wherever it was the Supervision Army was suddenly so interested in. "Gashi, send out a general order to all ships to begin passive pursuit operations! We HAVE to figure out where they're all going or it'll be the end of us!"

Gashi started setting up hyperspace links to the other ships in the fleet, but at the same time he started thinking about the situation. "Why not simply charge the whole line and look for it?"

"There's no time for that! They still want Gallaron so we've got an insurance policy, but if they get their hands on any more of that advanced weaponry like they used at Shiar..."

Hikaru felt his heart sink into his feet, finally realizing what Misa had already figured out. "The Botoru fleet!"

"Exactly! if Lacul destroys them, there's nothing to stop him from turning all of his forces on Gallaron! We won't be able to replace our losses quickly for at least another five months, and if he beats the Botoru fleet before then, we won't have a chance!"

Hikaru could have sworn he had missed something. "But if they renew their offensive against us, won't that leave them open to the Botoru fleet?"

"But only thing keeping the Zentradi's numbers from overwhelming Lacul right now is the advantage he gets from reaction weapons! What happens if he gets his hands on some of those small fold weapons?"

Gashi had already heard enough. "Shikari's fleet is en-route to the Mishalla system for resupply. Should we send her a special assignment?"

"Send it immediately! But make sure it's coded and make it a priority one dispatch... No, wait till I get to the bridge! I'm on my way right now!" Misa started to push herself up as Gashi closed the channel, and in the blink of an eye Hikaru was shouldering the majority of her weight as she shuffled over to her wheelchair on the side of the room.

Miko was barely keeping up with the conversation, but even she could tell enough from the mood in the room that something had gone terribly wrong. "Mommy, are we in trouble?"

Misa looked at her for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Yes honey, we're in trouble. Listen, things are going to get a little dangerous from here on. If anything happens to me or your father or this house, go straight to the life pods down the street. You remember where the life pods are?"

"I remember. My teacher showed me."

"Good. Remember, if anything happens, go straight there and wait for an adult to tell you what to do next. Can you remember that?"

Miko nodded bravely. "Aye, aye mommy."

"Great. I'll be back honey." Hikaru pushed open the door and both he and Misa disappeared through the door, into the hallway, headed for the rail system on the upper level that would take them straight to the bridge. Miko took a seat on the floor and started doodling on a fresh piece of paper something she had seen in her dreams, something that for some reason this entire conversation had reminded her of. She couldn't draw the face nearly as well as she remembered it, but the name was still fresh in her mind so she used her teacher's technique and sounded it out. "H... hih... Hitomi..." She said, writing out the name at last.

.  
—January 9, 2018—  
—18:30 GST—  
Kraken felt ill at ease about Lacul's big plan. He didn't like to retreat from anything, even for a good reason, and abandoning the Gallaron front was something of a humiliation after all the damage the protoculture fleet had caused. Of course he could appreciate the simplistic beauty of the plan, even considering all the random factors that it depended on for success, but Lacul was rarely ever wrong about this sort of thing and he was inclined to trust his judgment for the time being. If it all worked out the way he planned, in 6 months the Botoru fleet would be just a memory and the entire Supervision Army would be landing on Gallaron and their entire defense fleet would be rubble beneath his feet. Just, between the three moons of the planet alone, he knew they would be able to build at least 6 million ships and more than enough mecha to support them all in their new war against the Zentradi. It would be the finest hour of their cause, the crack of dawn for the new empire that would dominate the universe once and for all. Maybe, he thought, they might even be able to find Gepernich and the others and awaken them again...

A holographic window opened on the bridge of Kraken's ship, filling the viewer with Jinai's face. "Awake at last are we Jinai?" He said mockingly.

"Why are we retreating?" He said boredly.

"Just got word from Sarride. It seems we've finally found Vorhalas."

"Oh? How exciting."

"Exciting? That's a bit of an understatement. Have you ever been to Vorhalas?"

"Of course I have, I was born there. My family left that planet when it was evacuated for the last time. We were captured by Lacul on our way to relocate to the outer rim."

A vein on Kraken's forehead bulged slightly. "You... what! Why the hell didn't you say anything!"

"Nobody asked." Jinai said evenly. "Besides, Sarride knew what it looked like..."

"But you knew _where_ it was all this time!"

"So what if I did?"

"Then why didn't you tell Lacul!"

"I told you, he didn't ask. I have no obligation to that selfish bastard, I'm only here because I have nowhere else to go."

Kraken would have raised another complaint, but then he seemed to notice something about Jinai he had never noticed before. Something in the way that he spoke, his mannerisms, as if he was talking to him on a higher level than he ever realized. "What would you say if I told you I knew how to exploit Lacul's weaknesses?"

"Lacul has a weakness? Really?" Jinai said, mockingly, "Do you mean his energy deficit, spritia gluttony, faulty dimension organs, or painfully short attention span?"

Kraken was at first surprised, but then it figured that Jinai would have noticed the same things Lacul had programmed just about everyone else _not_ to notice. "You know we could beat him, all we would need is one good shot."

"And one god-awful huge gun." Jinai said, holding up his finger. "And alot of decoys to draw his fire until he gets too tired to maintain that behemoth combat size. But of course he has master override control over the entire fleet protected by a password and some security even _you_ can't crack, _and_ there's the other commanders under partial mind control, _and_ there's the problem that he can transfer his essence into any one of the others if he needed to. So even if we do beat him, we'll have to subdue the other commanders and drive his spirit out of them as well, which takes a very long time and is usually quite frustrating. Then the access codes have to be cracked, and his energy matrix has to be redirected so it doesn't putrefy and drive everyone crazy... you see, Kraken, It's hardly impossible, but it's too much of a headache. I'd rather just keep doing what we've been doing, it's so much more fun."

Kraken was impressed. "You've really thought about this, haven't you?"

"I've had plenty of time to think about it. I also know that this would be so much easier if we had Shikari working with us, but I doubt she'll turn her back on all the perks of protoculture just for some petty lust for power. Once again, it's more to our advantage just to kill the little haw-naug."

Kraken's brow twitched. "You really shouldn't talk about her that way. She's a formidable opponent and a potential ally."

Jinai noticed something in Kraken's voice he recognized from before. He had thought it had just been admiration, but watching him on screen he saw it was something else. "Maybe more to _you_ than I realized."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You contacted her, and you've seen her haven't you?"

Kraken nodded. "Yes I have. What's your point?"

Jinai grinned slightly. "She's very pretty, don't you think?"

Kraken blinked. "Very what?"

"Never mind, Kraken, forget I asked. Anyway, I'm currently twelve light years away from the Kaladan system. Lacul's already begun landing troops on Vorhalas, and his fortress is on its way there. I will be expecting you at the rendezvous point."

"Alright, I'll join the fleet there in four days. Out." Kraken closed the channel and sat back in his chair, pondering the increasingly perplexing mystery known as Jinai. The more he worked with him, the more he was finding that everything he thought he knew about him was completely wrong. Jinai often went into his little fits, where he would sit around for hours not moving, staring at a wall, lost within his own head. Kraken realized it was a function of his less-than-normal brain to often completely space out or make odd decisions at very inconvenient moments, but he had recently observed that there always seemed to be some kind of rhyme and reason behind his actions to the point where Kraken thought that Jinai, if not slightly autistic, may have been extremely eccentric or perhaps just emotionally disturbed.

In either case, he was not only a strange character to be around but also an unpredictable and dangerous wild-card that could change the entire war situation for either side at the drop of a hat. Kraken knew to keep an eye on Jinai from now on, but this still left the question of what if anything to do about him? Every time he pondered it, he came up with the same conclusion: absolutely nothing.


	11. Chapter 10: The Language Barrier

Chapter 10: The Language Barrier

—February 2, 2018—  
—24:59 GST—  
The movie was called "Random Dreams" and it was terrible. A hackneyed, clichéd, uninspired and downright boring romantic comedy someone had dug up somewhere staring Julia Roberts and Vince Vaugn. Harper had seen this same movie literally hundreds of times with a different name flashed on the opening credits each time, and he couldn't count how many old girlfriends had dragged him off to some random chick-flick just like this one. Shikari, on the other hand, had been on the edge of her seat since the movie started and he was sure if she had a pen and paper she probably would have been taking notes. She had that same attentive, spaced out look after the movie ended, and later on the walk out of the Ajax Cineplex, and even after stopping by at Famous Rei's for something to eat. Not surprisingly, Shikari ordered the miso ramen again, while Harper went for the Thai stir-fry. By the time the food got to their table, Shikari was still lost in her zombie like state; Harper was starting to miss the talkative, inquisitive little woman he had come to know over the months. "Shik, are you okay?" He said, moving in front of her eyes, trying to get her to look at him.

Shikari blinked quickly and seemed to return to reality, dragging her mind back from wherever it was it had wandered off to. "I'm fine, I just... well there's alot of things on my mind is all."

"Like what?"

"Like... well a whole new set of options recently became available too me, some new possibilities..." Shikari felt like she was on a slant somehow, as if the universe had gone flat and all of her words were skipping right over the top of him like stones in a lake. "Forget it, you wouldn't be interested."

"Of course I would!" Harper said automatically. He'd heard that from too many women to not know the proper response. "Go ahead, tell me!"

"Well..."

"C'mon, I'm all curious now!"

She tried not to look at him and save herself the embarrassment of blushing profusely in his presence, but for some reason she couldn't help it. Before she even knew what was happening, she began to dissolve into a humanoid pile of emotional jelly. "I... I... I..."

"You, you, you." Harper said mockingly.

"I just... well you... I can..."

Harper snickered. "Sounds complicated. Not really sure what to do about that..."

"Captain, you're making this really hard for me!" She complained, trying to catch her breath. Every time she felt herself getting closer to a resolution, her heart started doing acrobatics in her chest. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure she was about to suffer a very severe heart attack, so she closed her eyes and took three extremely deep breaths. "Matthew, I'm happy you offered to spend some time with me on my day off but there's something… I need your advice."

Harper leaned forward, quite sure this would be something entertaining. "What's gotten into you today?"

Shikari took three more deep breaths and started talking, determined not to stop until she had said all she needed to say. "I have these strange feelings and I don't understand them! It's just eating me up inside, it makes me feel like I'm falling all the time… it's like I just can't stop thinking about it! I don't know what's happening to me, sometimes I think I'm getting sick, but sometimes I see you in my dreams and I go insane and...!"

"Whoa, slow down there!" Shikari was flying through her words and Harper was just barely able to catch one word in three. "Take it easy, Shik! Now what's the matter with you?"

"Well uhhh…" This wasn't going anywhere fast, so she elected to try the intellectual approach. "Captain, I have reason to believe that my... uh... my judgment has been compromised by an emotional issue."

"What kind of emotional issue?"

Shikari's face turned beet red, but she determined not to stop until she had seen it through to the end, "As you know, I have been trying to study human pair-bonding interactions, for... you know... practical reasons, to... um... to know how to approach someone, someone I think is special."

Matt stared at her, his ground shaky, "Uh huh..."

"And I've been met with nothing but failure."

"Uh huh..."

"And... well, since I can't seem to figure out the proper... protocol or whatever it's called, I need to... um..." She closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, slapped herself on the face and then opened her eyes again, and looked him dead in the eye: "Raska'ta... m-melkes... amane genosta." She seemed to shrink half an inch and turned half around and stared at the ground, "There, I said it."

Mathew blinked twice, and glanced around in case anyone fluent in Zentradi might be listening. He found himself alone with her for twenty feet in every direction. "Uh huh..."

"I know, you're not interested. I um... I just wanted to tell you that."

"Right..." _If I didn't know better,_ he thought suddenly, _ it sounds like she's breaking up with me... are we on a date right now? _"So um... what happens now?" Something about the thought of it rang bitter in his ears. The idea of a relationship with Shikari had never been one he considered likely... on the other hand, he realized, that had not at all been the case before Broli had acquainted him with her rank and reputation. "I mean... well, what do you think we should do?"

Shikari sighed, "I think under the circumstances, it would be best not to... I mean, it would work out better if we just remained strictly professional. At least until this... this whatever it is... passes or until I can figure out how to deal with it... with you." She sagged slightly and stared at her feet.

"Uh huh..." Now he was legitimately saddened. "Well, okay, if you think that would be best." A long awkward pause filled their ears with the mutual silence, until out of obligation Mathew found himself speaking idly without thinking, "For what it's worth, Admiral, I do find you quite attractive."

Shikari looked up and stared at him blankly.

"It's true. I mean... remember, a long time ago I told you I thought you were pretty? That was my first impression of you, and to be honest, it still is. I think you're very attractive. And... I'm sorry you... feel like we..."

"Wuchia'ta amane," She said again, this time in a low, husky voice that for some reason raised sweat on his forehead, "Pezuna'ta amane. Holtoa."

Even without understanding the words, the meaning was finally clear. Even so, he choose not to react until he knew for sure, "Shikari, what exactly does that mean in English?"

Shikari stood up from the table, walked around to his side, knelt down next to him and whispered in his ear, "It looses something in the translation. But if you'd take me back to your quarters, I'll be happy to show you."

.  
—26:40 GST—  
The small city block behind SDF-2's main cannon wasn't as bit as it had been when the main cannon and armor plating were installed, but with the purpose it now served, it really didn't need to be. The ship itself, like all superdimensional vessels, functioned as a mobile base with its own self contained economy and population centers. It was like a self-contained war effort; if necessary, the SDF-2 could break away from Gallaron's fleet and fight the war on its own as an independent nation, requiring only what few supplies it's onboard facilities could not build themselves. It was Misa's idea actually, basing the deployment of every ship in the fleet on the Macross as it was during the Space War. Macross had fought against the Zentradi as its own army, homeland and population, now every ship in Gallaron, whether it traveled with a fleet or by itself could keep on fighting until the enemy forced it to stop for repairs.

The center of the city block of SDF-2 contained a small forest park section that housed virtually all of the ship's plant life. The grass and most of the trees were all borrowed from the original colony ship when the city was moved to the surface of Gallaron. It wasn't nearly as big as it had been in the original colony section, thought as small as it was it was still large enough to fit the average public high school and have plenty of room for parking.

Captain Matheson stretched out on one branch of an oak tree in one corner of the forest with her feet up on the trunk. Broli was sitting on another branch next to her, staring off into space with his mind wandering. He didn't realize Corina was calling him until he felt the impact of a small stick against the side of his head. "Ow!… what, Kitten?"

"I said why did you want to come here anyway?"

"You don't like it here?"

"I do but…" Corina sat up in the tree, turned around and leaned her back against the trunk. "Why'd you want to come HERE? We could have gone to the café down the street or to my quarters or…"

"I just wanted to see you in your natural setting." Broli said flatly.

Something about the statement intrigued her. "And just what exactly is my natural setting?" She said with a smirk, half turning in the tree to face him.

"Captain Harper mentioned something to me a few weeks ago." He reached across the short gap between them and grabbed Corina's hands, examining them thoroughly. "He said you can always tell a country-girl by her hands. They're different from city girls, but they're just like meltrandi, rough and calloused from years of..."

"That sounds like something Harper would say too. That damn cowboy..."

"But he's right." Broli kissed her hand and leaned back on the branch again. "Sure, you blend in with sprawling metropolis well enough, but according to your records you were born on a farm in a place called Brazil, forty one miles from the nearest major city."

Corina was impressed. Thanks to the devastation of Earth's surface and the near destruction of the Earth by the Zentradi, that kind of information was not easy to dig up these days. He'd obviously gotten Shikari to do alittle hunting. "It's not like I swing from trees or anything Broli..."

"Of course not. I just want to have you all to myself, for a while. And since we're on the subject, I've come to realize I don't know much about you. Your childhood I mean. There's not much in the records."

Corina laughed. "You waited until _after_ we were married to ask me this?"

"Well… I was never a child so I never really thought about it until Minmei's kids were born. Now I'm all curious to see how my Kitten came to be the way she is."

"I see." Corina didn't know where to start, but with Broli it might not have mattered. Anything would be interesting to him now, and the first thing that came to mind was, "When I was little I always dreamt of being an astronaut. I used to watch the launches on TV and I would shoot little rockets in the fields and a couple of times I would play in the drier and have my brother turn it on so I could pretend like I was flying or something… I guess it was pretty stupid…"

"Actually, that sounds like fun." Broli said, trying to picture a shrunken Corina tumbling around in a drier full of moist socks.

"When I was seven, my Dad took me and my brother on a plane trip to America to see the space shuttle launch in Cape Canaveral. I remember what it was like when it launched, like when they lit those two huge boosters it was like the whole word was shaking. And then it started going up... oh, it was so cool! It was like this entire rocketship riding a fireball all the way into space. And the boosters fell away and the thing just kept on going until I couldn't even see it anymore with the binoculars. I used to dream about that from as early as I can remember..."

"I can imagine. I hear the old space craft they used to use on Earth were quite a sensation back in their day."

"Some of them still are." Corina said fondly. "But that was nothing compared to what happened the next night

"What happened?"

"We were in a rental car on the way to the airport and my brother was all excited about the shuttle launch and everything, but then I saw… I saw a..."

Broli sat up a bit, suddenly curious. "What'd you see?"

"It was way up in the sky, this big yellow fireball brighter than the sun. My dad stopped the car and he got out the binoculars and…" Corina froze for a moment like a car pushing past a speed bump, held up by the last image she ever saw before waking up in the hospital. "We got hit by the shockwave after Macross passed over us. It actually picked up the car and hurtled us into a swamp somewhere." That flash image stayed frozen in her mind for an instant before she moved on in her mental video tape; her father, lying against the side of a huge rock, the back of his head completely smashed. Raul had tried to pick him up to carry him with them, but Corina got him to abandon the attempt, pointing out a pile of gray matter on the rocks next to where her father's head had been. It was a painful memory, but one of mixed emotion. Her bigger concern had the nature of that strange object that had passed overhead and caused this catastrophe, and the fear that Earth was being invaded by space aliens. "I never saw my dad again." she said softly. "We lost him in the swamps, I guess he must have drowned."

Broli stared at her for a few moments, trying to picture three micronians blowing in the wind like human flags as a Supervision Army gunboat sliced through the sky above them. "How'd you get home?"

"The American immigration agents found us. As soon as we got back home, my mother started explaining everything that happened with the Macross and that the UN was going to be encompassing all the governments because aliens were coming or something." She thought back on the strange image she remembered from then, her mother still with tears in her eyes over the death of her husband yet excited and terrified at the same time at everything the Macross's arrival had come to represent. "You know, I flew that very same space shuttle on the way to ARMD-3 a couple of months before Bodolza attacked. You think maybe that's just a coincidence?"

"I think so." Broli thought of one of his own stories, though he was sure Corina wouldn't be interested in it particularly. "How old were you when you signed on with ARMD-3?"

"Pretty young actually. They accelerated me through the service because they needed a good linguist."

"Linguist?"

"I was fluent in eight languages and basic in four." Corina caught Broli's expression and realized he did not understand what she was trying to say. "It was different back then. The old ships didn't have computer translators like the Macross so they needed people who could shift languages on the fly. Everyone on ARMD-5 spoke Italian, and three of the destroyers in the Enterprise's group had an all Russian crew. All of the opps officers in the fleet were like that, this way we wouldn't have to worry about who we were talking to in what language. Sometimes we'd switch back and forth in mid sentence without even knowing it."

Broli found this the most amusing of all. "How come you never told me that?"

"You never asked, dear!" Corina said laughing. "Besides, when I met you it was hard enough just teaching you English, but everyone here speaks Zentradi. There's over a hundred thousand humans in Gallaron and seventy million Zentran and protocran. Everybody who doesn't speak English…"

"Êtes-vous fâché?" Broli said off hand.

Corina chuckled. Broli wasn't carrying a translator, but she had learned a long time ago he was a very fast learner. "Non. C'est la vie."

"Estão você receoso?" Broli said.

Corina matched the question with a defiant grin. "Ängstlich von was?"

"Of loosing part of who you are, or maybe loosing your culture to all these strange new people around you. Or are you afraid of Lacul?"

"Nao receoso do Lacul." Corina stood up and stepped across the branch to move up next to him. "Receoso para perdê-lo."

Broli put his hands around her and held her to his side. "Don't be silly Kitten, you'll never loose me. No matter what happens, even if I live to be a thousand years old, I will always love you."

She could feel the warmth in his hands, burning all doubt out of her soul. "Promise?"

"Eu prometo, Gatinho." He said, and kissed her on the forehead.

.  
—26:50 GST—  
"Can I check have ma'am?" The man said in heavily accented English. Minmei was grateful for him at least making an effort to talk to her in the standard micronian tongue, and after such a valiant effort by him and his family to speak to her in English she didn't have the heart to tell him about the translator in her pocket, or the fact that she knew enough to talk to him in Zentradi anyway. She simply handed him the check and a pen, but before she could even step away from the table he handed it back to her with the money and a 2,000 yulin-tip. "Tank we you Minmei." He said.

"Nous-Brek." She said, smiling shyly.

All four of the people at the table stared at her for a moment, then at the realization of the situation all four of them started laughing. Minmei moved off to the cashier to finish the check, then noticed the beeping of her watch as an indication that she needed to get home soon. She had about half an hour before Taosan woke up at his usual time and started screaming to be fed, and just for once she hoped to take care of him before he woke up his brother with his fussing. Thinking about the subject reminded her of Pris; she banished the thought immediately and finished her work.

When she was done with the register, she moved into the employees lounge for the rest of her clothes and her jacket, but on the way out she caught Fei Chan staring at her in a white coat stained with splatters of sweet and sour sauce. "Leaving so soon?"

"I have to get back. There's some business I need to take care of..." She glanced off at the four customers from the table she had just finished waiting, one man and three women leaving the room. "Fei Chan, that man is married to all three of those girls." She said in amazement.

Fei Chan watched them leave and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I noticed. Seems to be a fairly standard practice here, mainly because there's so many more women on this planet than men."

"Really?" Looking around the room, Minmei noticed for the first time a considerable gender gap in the attendance. For every male in the room there were at least six women. "Now that you mention it... but still, what would a man want with three wives? You'd think just _one_ would be enough."

"That's for damn sure." Fei Chan said with a grin. "Truth is, this is a matriarchal society. The women run everything here, in fact most protocran men don't even have voting rights unless they're married."

"I thought that was just a myth?"

"I thought so too, but it's a tradition that stretches back thousands of years... in fact, some of the earlier democracies on Earth had that same practice. The six highest positions in the Elder's Council are all men, abd the other thirty four council members are all women. I'm told this is the first time the council has ever been dominated by men, actually."

"Definitely an enlightened society." Minmei said smirking. "What does that have to do with polygamy?"

Fei Chan shrugged, passing down what little information he had managed to squeeze out from past customers, "Most families are like we're used to, one husband and one wife. The wife—the first one, anyway—is the like the queen of the household. Sometimes if she comes from a poor family, she'll get her husband to marry not only her, but also her sisters or cousins or whatever and they can pool all their resources under one household... or, if the husband falls for another woman or takes pitty on some poor homeless girl or some war orphan, his first wife passes judgement on whether or not to allow a second marriage. By law, the first wife has judicial power over all of them, exclusive property rights, and she's the only one allowed to have children. In some provinces the second wife is allowed to have boyfriends on the side, if the first wife allows it, and in some cases they can even divorce and remarry if they find another husband... I'm pretty sure those cases are pretty rare though."

"That's so weird... you know, you'd think there'd be alot of jealousy or something."

"Sometimes there is, but in some households the husband isn't even allowed to have sex with the other wives—that's why they're allowed to have boyfriends. The other wives all have to chip in with helping to raise the children, keeping house, tending to domestic issues, or else just earning a living... that sort of thing. It's one of the reasons the Gallaron birthrate is so high."

"Yeah... that's a really interesting arrangement..." This opened up a whole new era of possibilities to her, and she could almost taste the irony in the situation. Her late husband had been an abusive, cheep skate control freak with an ego-centric mindset and a very short temper. But if he had lived to see the founding of the Stellar Republic, there would only have been a million different things Minmei could do to keep him in line, maybe even going so far as to trick Richard into taking a second wife to serve as a tag-team partner should he forget his place. But that was all over with; Richard was gone —from the neck-up anyway— and nothing would bring him back to her. She knew it was time to move on, to move up, to retake her place in the universe, and the ball was already rolling towards that end.

Minmei pulled her coat on and started for the door, but at the last minute she glanced at Fei Chan and suddenly saw a solution to one of her biggest and newest problems. "Fei Chan, could you do me a _huge_ favor?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"Don't say yes until I tell you what it is. This is _really_ big."

"Minmei, if it's important to you I'll do it, you know that. C'mon, what do you need?"

She looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Could you... could you look after the twins for alittle while? You see I'm going on a trip and I won't be able to stay at home..."

"How long are we talking exactly?"

She fought through the embarrassment of having to ask someone this. "It's a _long_ trip."

"How long?" Fei Chan could tell she didn't want to go into detail about where she was going, which was a clue to him at her intended destination was.

"A few months maybe. I'm leaving this weekend. I'll be back for the holidays and all, but..."

Fei Chan thought back to his basic training days and pulled out some numbers. "I see. Through... late July, right? About six months."

"Yeah." Minmei felt fifteen years old again. It was like trying to tell her father about a new boyfriend from school. "I-I'm not doing this for Kai Chan."

"Sure you're not." Fei Chan said, winking. "You're doing this for Hikaru, right?"

Oddly enough, that idea seemed to make more sense to her than it probably should have. "No... I'm doing this for myself. And for the kids. Don't ask me to explain."

"Fine, I'll take care of them. Just as long as you promise not to do what my sister did and disappear for ten years. I couldn't handle another round of custody hearings."

"I'll be back, don't worry. I'll even stop by every other day to check up on..."

"Don't get carried away Minmei, you'll be too busy for that. Just call in on a vid-line twice a week. That's all either of us have time for."

Minmei nodded and started for the door. "Twice a week then. Could you stop by tomorrow morning and get the keys?"

Fei Chan shook his head. "How about I stop by tomorrow and get the _kids_?"

"Uhhh..." She slapped herself on the forehead, "Sure, that'd be good."

.  
—February 3, 2018—  
—00:55 GST—  
_That was a hell of a dream, _It was the first thought into Mathew's head as he slowly came back into his head from a peculiarly restful sleep. As usual the sunbeam from the holographic sky outside filtered in through his window and warmed his face back to consciousness. Slowly he opened one eye and raised one hand to block the sunlight through the window, and rolled his head to one side to check the clock. "Damn. Too early for duty, too late for breakfast." With a groan he turned his head back and reached for the pillow on the bed next to him to cover his face from the sunlight... but his first attempt to move his other arm met an obstacle, and looking down for the first time he saw why. Shikari was curled up in the bed next to him, both arms wrapped around his waist, her head resting on his chest as a pillow. He brushed her gently with his knee to confirm what he already suspected, then glanced slowly around the room to find his and her uniform strewn about his quarters in haphazard fashion. _Oh lord, I was afraid of that._

Over the years, Captain Matt Harper had perfected the art of bed-hopping, waking up on occasion next to an unknown woman and using a combination of stealth and contortionism to escape without waking his one-time companion. By then all it would take is a steady regimen of failing to return her phone calls and careful manipulation of schedules and he was home free— but this time he stayed put, and not out of the impossibility of avoiding her either. Looking down at Shikari again, curled up in the bed next to him, every last impulse in his body that normally would have inspired him to flee became mysteriously silent just at the sight of her. He lay there in silence for almost ten minutes, then gently stroked the side of her face with his fingers, "Shikari," He said gently, then louder, "Shikari. Good morning."

She stirred at first, then slowly tilted herself and looked up at him with a set of radiant green eyes. She said nothing, and made no movements, just lay there next to him, staring into his eyes.

"Are you okay?" He said after a minute passed.

A confusion of emotions manifested on her face; her arms, already around him, squeezed tighter. "I'm okay, Mathew."

"You look... scared." He sat up slightly, "What are you scared of?"

"Last night... we... You see, now I have to wonder about..." Through every inch of her body he could feel her trembling against him, "What _was_ that anyway? What did you do to me?"

He threw his arms around her and held her tighter, trying and succeeding to subdue the trembling in her body. And once he thought about it, he laughed to himself, "I gave you that demonstration you've been asking about."

The fearful look in her eyes dissolved slowly into a playful one, "Yeah, I guess you did."

"What did you think? Was it everything you thought it would be?"

Shikari thought for a moment, unsure how to answer. "I don't know what I was expecting, but that was definitely _not_ it."

"I see..."

"Actually, it was better... it was alot better than I thought it would be."

Matt stroked her shoulder affectionately, "I'm glad you approve."

She smiled now, her trembling subsided, "I've never felt so close to anyone before... it's no wonder Miclones think about this so much in their fantasies and literature. It's a wonderful thing."

Matt chuckled, "I couldn't agree more."

"I think I'm in love with you, Matt..."

"I, uh... I think so too." An alarm went off in his head. She was getting too attached to him. There was nothing casual about her affection for him, but something entirely serious. Despite any protest he could mount, she had chosen him for whatever would come next. _I think I'm gonna get burned for this..._

She tiredly dropped her head back on her chest and melted into him, but stiffened up after a moment as a new thought occurred to her, "By the way, I want you to promise me something."

"Anything. What?"

"Don't tell Kaalcha about this."

He looked at her again in curiosity, "Why not? Or for that matter, why would I tell him in the first place?"

"Because Captain Matheson warned me that American men make it a matter of pride trying to get as much... as much... umm..." She fumbled through her memory until she found the word, "As much 'pussy' as possible. I'm not completely sure what that means, but she seemed to be implying that you..."

Matt cut her off before she could go further. "I won't tell a soul, if you don't either."

Shikari smiled again. "My lips are sealed."

He lay there for a few more minutes in relaxation, then glanced over at the clock again, noticing the passing of time moving much faster than it should have. "What do you say, Shik?" He said coyly, "Would you like another demonstration?"

She smiled wider and seemed to bristle in excitement. "Pezuna'ta, Captain!"

Harper read between the lines, even despite the warning in the back of his brain, _I am SO gonna get burned for this..._

.  
—19:40 GST—  
"Misa, I'm home." Hikaru walked into the room and closed the door. The lights were off and the shudders were closed, but somewhere he could hear Miko giggling under her breath. He knew he was in trouble, Misa had gotten it into her mind to repay him for all the childish pranks he had played on her to keep her mind distracted for all the months she was confined to her wheelchair, this time using Miko as a patsy. He started to wish Misa had gotten pregnant again after Miko was born, maybe he would have a son to help him even out the scales. "Misa, where are you?" He said, turning the lights on in the apartment. He had been worried before, Misa had been getting sick in the mornings and had started having some odd mood swings at odd times during the day, but now that he was home he was relived there didn't seem to be anything seriously wrong in the house. Yet.

He looked around some more, hearing the same giggling from little Miko but not being able to trace it to its source. "Miko? Misa?" From somewhere behind him he heard footsteps, and spun around to see Miko running across the floor in Misa's uniform, filling it about one eighth of the way. The skirt dragged about 5 and a half feet on the floor behind her, so Hikaru brought his foot down on the back of the uniform and stopped her in her tracks.

Miko actually fell over when the skirt snagged on his shoe, but once she got up she ran over and hugged his leg. "Daddy... I mean... Hikaru! I took the magic potion and it made me shrunked!"

It was all he could do to keep from busting out laughing. "Oh no! You took the magic potion Misa!"

"Yeah! It shrunked me little like Miko!"

Hikaru could hardly contain himself. "This is terrible! Somebody help me, my wife has been micronized!"

Miko squeezed his leg more. "I shrunked! Help me!" She said, her voice squeaking like she was trying to cry.

Hikaru couldn't contain himself anymore; he knelt down to the floor and picked up Miko in the grossly oversized uniform, almost in tears from laughing so hard. "If you're Misa, where's Miko?"

"Miko took the potion too and it made her a big people!"

"Well where is she?" Hikaru said.

"Right here." Misa said from the hallway.

"Oh there's my little..." He almost dropped Miko when he saw her there, standing to full height without a cane and without leaning on anything to balance herself. "Oh my god!"

"Yeah, that's what I said." Misa scanned the floor for things to trip over and started walking. She walked across the room to the table, back across to the TV, back across again to the doorway into the kitchen, finally making a full circle all the way to where Hikaru was standing in the middle of the room. "Miko woke me up from a nap and she was helping me move around, and then all of a sudden I just... well, started walking."

"Y-You've been doing this all day!"

"Yeah." Miko answered for her. "Mommy's all better now!"

Hikaru looked her up and down for a moment, then he laughed slightly, looked her over again and laughed again. "Misa, you're..."

"I'm whole again, Hikaru."

He couldn't set Miko down fast enough to keep from squishing her when he lunged at his wife and threw his arms around her. Miko groaned from the big crunch, but managed to slip free before too much injury occurred. "I... I can't...!"

"Hikaru, let's all go out, you me and Miko, let's all go to Johnny's and get a pizza or something! I feel like celebrating!"

Hikaru pulled the uniform off Miko and quickly threw her coat and shoes at her feet. "By your command, Oba-san! I'm no longer embarrassed to be seen with you!"

Misa giggled. "I just wish I could say the same, Mr. Lingerie."

"Touché." Hikaru made sure Miko was ready to go, grabbed his wallet and keys and dashed out the door with Misa on her heels. We watched her every step of the way, making sure she didn't loose her balance and fall suddenly. In truth, this could have been bigger news than Misa thought it was. There was only one medical explanation that he knew of that could cause such a dramatic change in her condition...


	12. Chapter 11: Get Your Hands Dirty

****

Chapter 11: Get Your Hands Dirty

—February 11, 2018—  
—23:01 GST—  
Through the thick forests of the planet Gallaron, fifty recruits ran along two by two in formation towards what end they knew not what. The only sound from them was huffing and panting from near exhaustion, but the drill instructor at the back of the line could be heard loud and clear. "What the hell is the matter with you people! Move it! The damn war will be over by the time you get to the front you gut-sucking maggot pukes!" Sergeant Jefferson was shouting at the top of his lungs, but somehow he keept pace with the entire formation of youngsters in his camp without even breaking a sweat. A start contrast to the recruits who were dying on their feet; in Gallaron's heavy gravity the smallest of them weighed over two hundred pounds. They'd been running for what seemed like hours, half of them could no longer feel their legs but kept at it for fear of falling and being trampled by the people behind them.

Ensign Rollins had been given a sample of this treatment in his R.O.T.C. training, but the current exercise pushed him to his limits. The air had turned to soup, just breathing was getting harder and harder until he could swear he was drowning. Then, finally, the group of them came within sight of the objective, a large square building with an open roof that somehow he knew they would have to climb. "That must be the armory!" He said, wheezing from exertion.

Rollins caught movement out of the corner of his eye and reached down just in time to keep Minmei from falling. Both of them were covered in sweat and gasping for air in Gallaron's high gravity. "It's... so... far...!" she said, panting desperately at the point of collapse.

Jefferson seemed to notice Rollins and Minmei slowing pace, and immediately his voice exploded like a loudspeaker. "Hey Pop Star, you're breakin my heart! Pickup you goddamn feet! Rollins, keep that bitch up to pace or you'll both start over!" Needing little other encouragement, both of them picked up the pace and ran faster. "You think that satisfies me you worthless sack of shit! Get to that obstacle before I count to five or we'll _all_ start this damn course again from the beginning! ONE!" Minmei and Rollins surged to a sprint. "TWO!" They both ran faster. "THREE!" They passed six pairs of recruits in two seconds and started to close in on the building. "FOUR!" Rollins lost his footing and fell, and Minmei started dragging him along until he got back up to speed. "FIVE!" Too tired to slow themselves down, both of them arrived at the building still in a full sprint, and both of them crashed head first into the cement wall and rolled backwards for a few feet, totally unconscious. Jefferson trotted up to them while the other recruits started their climb, looked at them each for a few moments, then looked back down the path of the forest. "You get an A for effort, Pop Star..." He said under his breath. "MEDIC!"

—February 20, 2018—  
—07:50 GST—  
Doctor Varcus flipped through the assortment of photographs in the folder and the sheets of data from the magnetometer, putting it all together in a mental image he could manipulate freely in his own mind's eye. Dumo Hinago's experience with modern archeological technique and scientific equipment was elementary at best, but just from the level of detail in his report Varcus could tell this man leaning anxiously over his desk could far outclass even the most seasoned Terran archeologist any day of the week. "This is all very interesting," Varcus said, going through the photos again, "How deep is it, you say?"

"It's about a hundred meters beneath the bedrock, and only fifteen miles south of Megaroad City. You can see the density variations in a set radius around the object, and the sedimentary displacement which seems to indicate—"

"It was buried there," Varcus finished, "Deliberately." He put the last photo back in the folder and leaned back in his chair, turning the image in his mind, "What exactly _is_ it?"

"We know it's some kind of device, some ancient lost technology. We've already excavated part of it, the protrusion here..." Hinago pointed to one of the photos, "... just above the the bedrock. We can't get any deeper with the equipment we have, _but_ from what we've unearthed so far we've learned a great deal."

"As indicated in your report," Varcus said, "However, Dumo, you know as well as anyone else that scientific projects like archeological digs are the jurisdiction of the Elders Council, particularly the Academics Committee. You wouldn't be asking the military for help unless the Committee had already rejected your proposal... I'm in hot water with the Elders as is, I'm in no position to go behind their back and start funding controversial research."

Hinago found Varcus' perceptiveness strangely alarming, not to mention inconvenient. "The Committee is bound by religious dogmas and scientific convention. They don't accept the facts when they're staring them right in the face."

"You and I may have our problems with them, Dumo, but they are _elected_ officials of this government. We can't simply override them because we disagree on..."

"Just so you understand what's at stake here," Hinago took a step back and cleared his throat, "Mind you this is only mythology... the ancient race that used to inhabit this area called the Kalatumi have a collection of writings called the Jaren Scriptures."

Varcus nodded, "I've heard of it. Dumokai Verten opens every council meeting with a verse from those books."

"For the layperson it's mainly just a liturgy. It hasn't been a _practiced_ religion among commoners for over a thousand years... except for the light dances, but they've been blended into folk traditions since then."

"Fascinating. I'm a busy man, Dumo, so please make your point."

Hinago took a deep breath and lowered his voice dramatically, "According to the Jaren Scriptures it says that our people originally came to this world from the heavens, along with our servants, a race of slaves that were used to build the first societies. Over time our treatment of the slave class become more and more violent and oppressive, and the gods heard the cries of the slaves and sent a warrior named Sakelcha to punish the masters... long story short, the slaves were freed and before long they turned on their masters and slaughtered every one of them, then they left this world and returned to heaven. The patron goddess was called Sajana, and when she saw the death of her people she performed a mystical dance that could restore the life of the entire world. She danced for over a year until all those who had been killed in the slave revolt were brought back to life, then she died from exertion. That's where the light dancers originally come from, it symbolizes Sajana's sacrifice."

Varcus grinned, "It would seem there's more to the story than simply mythos."

"Perhaps," Hinago leaned forward slightly, "The standard interpretation of the scripture is that the Zentradi are the descendents of the escaped slaves. This has been the stance of the Elders Council for nearly three hundred years, ever since we first learned of the existence of the Zentradi. But going through the archives of your people, I found something rather interesting..."

Varcus took a stab in the dark, "That Sakelcha is etymologically linked to the word _Si'kaalcha_, one of the oldest and most popular Zentradi war gods."

Hinago nodded, "Well that too, but one other thing."

Varcus took another guess, this one a bit more tantalizing, "That the oldest battle orders in the Zentradi archives are a command supposedly from Si'kaalcha ordering the Zentradi to avoid interferening with micron planets at all cost. Furthermore, Zentradi battle records go back over half a million years... whoever it is that created us was long gone by the time your people reached Gallaron.."

"Precisely." Hinago grinned, "Mr. Varcus, when you compare the scriptural account with Zetradi archives and what we know from our own experiences, as well as comparing the account in the Jaren Scriptures with other mythology around the world, I believe this tale might be a reversal of the truth."

"Reversal?"

"I think that our descendents were the slaves, not the masters. And it was Sajana, not Sakelcha, that freed us. I believe this because I've seen that some of the thun-utomisu techniques can be used to restore the higher brain functions of recovered Supervision Army soldiers."

Varcus frowned, "We don't really even know how the light dances work, only that they do. This theory of yours is bordering on a religious interpretation."

"But they do work," Hinago said, "And the interesting thing is what they work _for_. I have reason to believe that our ancestors who populated this planet may have been liberated from the Supervision Army itself. It would explain so much about our history, the fact that so many of our cities are built on top of massively complicated underground networks that at one time might have been military outposts. Also, the sheer number of wrecked space craft dotting the surface of this planet, even the light dances themselves—"

"Now hold on, Dumo," Varcus leaned forward, his eyes widened slightly, "That's why you're coming to me with this, isn't it? Your theory is...?"

"The Protocran race is descended from a group of Supervision Army deserters," Hinago said gravely, "And this object I found buried on this plateau might have some clue as to how we were freed from them twelve thousand years ago, and perhaps even who was responsible for it. And if we can unlock that secret, it should be possible to liberate all the others as well, not just our own captured comrades, but the _entire_ Supervision Army itself. The war could end practically overnight."

"What makes you think this object has anything to do with it? It might be an old Zentradi artifact."

"The fact that it was deliberately buried gives us an excellent measurement on sedimentary layers, as well as a nice solid fix on the radiometric and astral-flux dating systems of the soil covering it. All of them confirm that the object was buried there about twelve thousand years ago."

Varcus nodded, finally understanding. "I'll put my neck on the line for you, Dumo," he opened a drawer in his desk and fished for the appropriate paperwork, "I'll assign you a company from Army Corp of Engineers to help with the dig—officially this is to be treated as a purely _military_ operation. My people will follow your orders as best they can, but if anyone asks you are there only as an observer."

Hinago bowed slightly, and marched out of Varcus' office seemingly with a sense of renewed confidence. _Descended from Supervision Army deserters, _ Varcus thought as he left, grappling with the concept of it himself even without touching the social implications that came with it,_ If his theory is correct, there may be a very long road ahead of us.  
_

—February 21, 2018—  
—16:40 GST—  
Captain Elensh wiped the blood off her forehead, struggled back to her feet, sidestepped the small electrical fire burning on the deck in the center of the bridge and rushed to the front of the room in rage. "Susan, I want that son of a bitch off my screens right now!"

"Main cannon firing sir..." Lieutenant Merrick pushed the leaver and the main cannon discharged once again, striking the energy barrier around Jinai's command ship four-thousand kilometers away. Once again, the cannon failed to fully penetrate the shield, but the wash of energy ripped up armor plating along the left side of the ship as it moved to cover the transport ships behind it. Jinai seemed to take this rather personally, answering back with a barrage of missiles and cannon fire that almost turned Imura's hair white even before it hit. Susan switched on the ships reflex barrier an instant before thousands of megatons of nuclear energy would have slammed into the hull.

Once again, Imura lost her balance and fell, forward this time, crashing against the railing between the two ops consoles with a sickening crunch and a sudden shortness of breath that told her at least one of her ribs was broken. "Goddammit... Mia, how many more!"

"Fighter wings can't get through! Enemy pods are blocking their advance! It looks like Jinai was expecting this sir!"

Imura ground her teeth and and patted her broken ribs with one hand. "How can he fight off ten ships with just one! This is ridiculous!"

"I guess it's just one of those days..." Mia said under her breath. Her comm channel started beeping after a moment and she answered the call signal on an open channel. "Sir, Captain Sekkai's signaling us from the Zjendiel... She's moving into attack position on the far side of that gas giant!"

"She's what! Dammit, I ordered that ship to the rear line! What the hell is...!"

Mia switched to a two-way channel. "Captain Sekkai, you've been given orders to..." she paused for a moment, then looked up slowly. "She's not listening, Captain."

"Damn that Sekkai!" Imura said in a low growl. "She carries on like she _owns_ that damn ship!" A barrage of heavy laser fire from Jinai's battleship danced across Victory's pinpoint barriers, failing once again to bite into the ship's armored hull. "I'll deal with her later. For now, tell Zjendiel to take up firing position and lock on to those tankers! We _have_ to bring those things down before they fold again!"

"Sending sir..." Another short pause, then Mia looked up with an annoyed look on her face. "Sir, the Zjendiel is ordering the gunners to target Jinai's battleship. She's saying it's a tactical liability to—"

"Shit!" Imura had had enough; she picked up a headset from Mia's console and clicked it to the right channel. "Sekkai, this is Captain Elensh calling from the flagship! I am in command of this battle group and like it or not, the SDG-01 is included in that outfit! Your insistence on compromising the chain of command is endangering the lives of thousands of my combat personnel, and unless you cease and desist from being a pain in the ass I will blow you out of the sky along _with_ that superdimensional garbage-scow you're so proud of! Do you understand me!"

The only response was a muted "I understand." From Sekkai before she closed the channel. But Imura looked at the tactical display to see that instead of complying with the orders, SDG-01 was firing its engines and making maneuvers again. It quickly changed into battle mode and began lowering altitude, "Dammit, now what?" She said to herself.

Lieutenant Merrick read the data for a few moments before she really understood what was happening. "She's entering the atmosphere sir... I think she's trying some kind of aero-braking maneuver!"

Imura actually left her chair and leaned over the railing of the command bridge, "With a ship that size? Can they... is that even possible?"

Mia zoomed the main monitor onto an image of the gas giant bellow them; one massive fireball was just beginning to appear over the horizon, dipping lower and lower as it passed through on the way to rendezvous with the fleet. "Shikari could probably pull that off... but Sekkai's still green! She has no idea what she's doing!"

Just looking at the angle of the ship, Imura could tell she was dipping much too low for this maneuver to work. On the other hand, she suddenly experienced and explosion of admiration for the woman just for having tried it. "Gutsy maneuver. Stupid, but gutsy."

Imura heard a voice over the radio, the last voice she expected to hear with the last message she expected him to have. "This is Thug Zero to all units, we've got a hole! Say again, we've got a hole! Khaki, Bone and Iron Chief squadrons move in to pry it open! E-Valk wing, get a move on!"

"Chan made it through?" Imura said in amazement. Another burst of laser fire hit the pinpoint barriers and send a shudder running through the deck, but for some reason Imura didn't even notice. _Hm... Maybe I sold him a little short?_ She looked over Mia's shoulder at the fighter situation just to see it for herself. Twenty minutes ago the fighters and powered armors were regrouping for another charge, and now Kai Chan's marines seemed to be slapping the enemy around like mechanical children. "Tell Thug Battalion to move in on the ships to the rear of the line. Zjendiel will target the ones in the front."

"Yes sir," Mia had only just sent the message to the powered armors when the blast of energy surged out from beneath the cloud layer of the gas giant, crossing almost ten-thousand kilometers to strike the first tanker vessel amidships and splitting it in two with the first shot. "She's not even out of the brake yet and she's already firing!" Mia said, impressed.

"That Sekkai's got some kind of death wish." Imura chuckled. "On my signal, have all ships commence a full missile barrage on that battleship. We need to draw their fire so the marines can finish the job."

"Yes ma'am!" Susan armed all twelve of the ships reaction missiles at once and red lighted the other ten ships in the group as well. Jinai's ship would be blasted by a man-made apocalypse literally at the touch of a button. "Missiles ready sir!" Susan said proudly.

Two more blasts fired off one after another, one of them hitting a tanker through its main engines, and the other hitting the storage tanks, splitting the vessel open like a giant tulip. Imura was satisfied with Gladiator's performance, but she knew it would not be easy fishing the ship back out of the gas giant's atmosphere IF it survived its aero-braking maneuver. "Alright, all ships begin missile bombardment!"

—March 3, 2018—  
—07:40 GST—  
Minmei was holding an ice pack against her forehead with one hand and trying to force food into her mouth with the other. All of the recruits smelled horrible; they'd been running almost all day and training all night. Half of them were asleep at the table, the other half were staring in a daze at the far wall with their brains too tired to think. Minmei's head was pounding so much she could barely hear her own thoughts, but in the time she'd been here she found it always helped to have friends. "Rollins," she said tiredly. "Why are they doing this to me?"

"They really _are_ trying to kill us, you know," Rollins grumbled. "That was, what— four kilometer obstacle course, uphill, downhill, a two mile climb through the underground tunnels, two kilometer sprint through mud... that's it. I don't remember anything after the mud."

Minmei nodded. "I think I repressed the memories. And I never did make it over that wall. Sergeant Grendal took me down and chased me around with that baton for half an hour and then he made me do it again." She sighed and hung her nead, "And I didn't make it over the _second_ time either."

Rollins actually fell asleep for just half a second, then snapped awake and nodded to her. "Neither did I. That thing's impossible to climb in this gravity. These boots weigh about five pounds each."

Two other recruits, a man named Fusé and a small woman who's name Minmei could never remember sat down across from them. "Hey you two, rumor has it we're starting weapons drills later today."

Everyone within earshot groaned loudly. "I don't know how to _fire_ a damn gun!" Rollins complained. "That Jefferson's gonna stomp my ass into the ground!"

Minmei nodded. "I might as well wash out now. I'll just end up shooting myself in the foot. You think you could help me Fusé?"

Fusé sighed. "I'm a calculus teacher. What do I know about guns?"

Minmei chuckled, then held her head in pain. "I just figured you must get alot of threats. I mean, I would have shot _my_ calculus teacher if I had a gun.

"Yeah, Anything to get out of that class." Rollins agreed.

"That's what _everyone_ says. Anyway, what are you asking me for? Weren't you using rifles in that movie..."

"You mean Perigee?"

Fusé nodded, "Yeah, that's the one. Don't you remember anything from that?"

Minmei thought about it, but somehow it didn't seem the same. "We were using little cap guns and I'm sure they don't have anything like that here..."

And just like that, the door exploded open and Sergeant Jefferson burst into the room. "Cadets, you now have six minutes to finish your garbage! We've got weapons drills next so wash off those grimy paws of yours and don't get any filth on my rifles!"

Everyone in the room who was still awake sounded off, "Sir, yes sir!"

—March 20, 2018—  
—04:50 GST—  
It wouldn't be at all accurate to say that Major Sutherland was the "new guy" in the Megaroad's bomber wing. To be sure he was a veteran of the Space War, an ace pilot with seven battleship kills under his belt, and by all accounts a damn fine cook. His two year hiatus from the battlefield could be attributed to the attack on ARMD-16 years ago, the doomed expedition sent by Macross UN Headquarters after the Megaroad colony mission abruptly stopped transmitting. One of Dr. Varcus' experimental treatments had revived him from a coma induced by severe energy draining by Supervision weapons, but over 70 of his fellow shipmates still remained comatose even to this day.

Goldfish squadron was the first to be reactivated, and at Glen Sutherland's own request for transfer to SDF-2, this was their fifth combat sortie of the war as part of Gallaron's Super Dimension Fleet. Through the scattered debris field he could see that the enemy battlepods were still oblivious to their presence, as was the small squadron of variable powered armors riding escort with them. So far, this ambush tactic looked as if it might go exactly to plan.

His radio finally burst from the silence, an encrypted channel from a few kilometers below him, "This is Goldfish-103, primary targets sighted!"

Sutherland turned his fighter in soldier mode to face the other VF-1F Electric Valkyrie, sticking its head through a hole in the gutted Zentradi carrier they had been hiding in. "Are they the ones the 2nd fleet warned us about?"

"I think so sir. It's a gunboat formation group, fourteen total, along with two destroyers, a single cruiser, a couple of couriers and tankers. The usual number of frigates, I'd guess twenty or thirty."

Glen moved to the back of the wreckage and looked over the other fighter's shoulder. "What do you think Ed?"

"Yeah, looks that way." Said Lieutenant Edward Magellan, Glen's WSO in the back seat of the cockpit. "The markings all line up. If it's _not_ them then it's a crazy coincidence."

"Alright. Any sign of that uh... what's the name... Parankazu squadron?"

The number three fighter looked around again, and on Glen's monitor the pilot shook his head. "No sign of them sir. You don't think they got into some trouble do you?"

Glen had almost no experience dealing with protoculture soldiers and he wasn't exactly sure what motivated them, but as soldiers it stood to reason that they probably wouldn't be late for such an important joint operation unless they had some troubles of their own to take care of. On the other hand, they'd been briefed that this particular sect of fighters was almost completely unknown to Gallaron, and despite numerous attempts had refused all forms of communication until only a few days ago. "We can't afford to wait for them. Are the other units standing by?"

The E-Valk on the other side of the hulk with the signal light flashed a laser message to the other fighter squadrons hiding in other wrecks nearby and turned slightly. "The rest of the wing reports no problems. We count about three hundred bogies in their CAP."

"Let's make this quick." Glen said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Who'd want to make it longer?" Ed said cynically. "We've got about a thirty minute window to nail those ships and make off with them before they can call support from the rest of the fleet. Even if we _do_ disable the couriers they'll still be able to call for help."

"I know that, quit naggin me." Glen closed the faceplate on this helmet and pressurized the helmet. Next he did a radio check and signaled the other pilots over short range. "You know the drill, people. Master arm tactical nukes and verify your targets..." The pilots of Goldfish Squadron took a deep breath and felt their hearts start beating alittle harder. "Target main engines _only_. We'll get em in just once pass 'cause that's all we'll time for." Glen said, putting his gloves back on and checking the seals. "All other squadrons go on my signal. Remember, Captain Matheson's expecting our usual perfection so concentrate on your jobs."

"We're ready sir." Goldfish-102 called out.

"We're ready to bounce, Glen." Edward said in the back seat.

"Right..." Major Sutherland checked his arming switch and the thirty two tactical nuclear missiles on his wings. They were all armed and ready to fly. Even being reactive weapons, they were so small he had to fire a dozen of them up the tailpipe of those ships in order to destroy the engines, but the result would be a feedback that would fry the reflex furnaces like an egg. "This is Goldfish-100, wolfpack-blue! I repeat, wolfpack-blue!"

All the other squadrons responded to the signal and exploded out of their hiding places already at full afterburner. The surprised enemy pods hesitated for just a moment before a burst of laser fire and a spread of missiles from the Lighting squadrons in the lead started tearing into them. Fifty pods went down in a matter of seconds before the rest of the group started to react, but with the E-Valks holding their fire they managed to push past the fighter screen almost totally ignored. It was only when they started to close in on the enemy gunboats did they start taking fire from the enemy defensive guns, but Glen knew they wouldn't have to worry about the enemy's defenses as long as they kept moving in fighter mode. "This is Goldfish-100, split up and go for your targets!" Major Sutherland moved in behind one of the courier ships along with the number two and three planes from his squadron. If all went well, the targets would be immobilized in a matter of moments, and then the real trick would be avoiding the defensive fire from the disabled hulks and the escorting pods all around them. But then, that's what the protoculture squadrons were supposed to be doing...

"Here we go Ed! Stay frosty back there!" The target came into view; suddenly Glen had the perfect shot up the courier's tailpipe, and then Ed flipped up the final safety and put his finger over the release. "Goldfish leader, fox away!" Glen shouted. On command, Ed hit the release and fired three missiles into each of the nozzles of the first ship's engines, as did both of his wingmen that same instant. The missiles disappeared into the bright blue-white flares of the impulse drives, and then the flare turned orange and the engines quickly turned themselves inside out, belching up a fireball thousands of meters across. The three fighters barely managed to bank away from it before they were caught up in the blast themselves.

The same followed for the rest of the Supervision ships, one after another, first with the gunboats and the frigates until finally the fighters closed in on the battlecruiser itself. All but two of the enemy ships were now spitting fire and molten metal from their impulse drives like spaceborne volcanoes, but by now every battlepod in the system was doubling back to pick him off. This would be the hardest part of the mission... "Strike wing, break formation and get ahead of the pods! Fighter wing, open a retreat path!"

"We're doing the best we can, but there's alot of them and a few of us! It would help if you could knock out the hangars on those two destroyers before they launch any more!"

"Mecha hangars... time for another run, Ed?"

"Ready when you are!"

Glen banked sharply around a beam from a Glaug plasma cannon and dove in towards leading destroyer to get a missile lock. The hangars were right in front of him and his computer had a good tone on all of them, but before he could even pull the trigger a pair of frigates alongside it turned their pulse lasers in his direction and filled the sky with fire. The first barrage missed him by a barely half a meter, and he started barreling around in space to avoid them now. "Goddamn escorts!"

"Hold us still Glen, I can't lock on like this!"

"You damn well better!" Glen steadied his fighter in space and pointed the nose strait in towards the target. "Hurry up!"

"Almost there," Ed checked his target locks, crossed himself, and fired the last fourteen missiles into the destroyer's forward hull. The missiles slipped slammed into the hangar modules just as the hatches opened to launch more pods. The chorus of nuclear explosions crushed the armored hull in on itself. The damage was even greater than either of them anticipated; the hull began to collapse from bow to stern, and in moments the entire vessel ended its existence in a gigantic fireball. "Bullseye," Edward said smugly.

"This is Goldfish Leader, first destroyer is..."

"Major, check six!" One of the Lighting pilots called out.

Ed looked over his shoulder just in time to see the flashes of a plasma cannon passing over his canopy, and on instinct he cut in the afterburners and went into a high-G turn. The mecha behind him stayed right on his tail, which was a perfect indication of just what kind of ships they were. "There's three of em, and they're doggin us!"

"Shit! This is Goldfish leader, I've got three VAs on my tail! Gimme a hand here!"

"Splinter-507 to Goldfish, Gimme a few seconds, I'll be right there!"

Combat pilots have a pet peeve about depending on someone else for survival, of which Glen was no exception. But with two powered armors tailing him, there was little else he could do besides lean on the afterburners and start praying. "507, hurry up! We're taking fire!" His fighter jerked suddenly to one side and started spinning, and Glen could see in his peripheral vision the reason why. One of his super boosters was hit and trailing fire, tearing itself apart from the inside. "507 I'm hit! Where the hell are you!"

"I'm right on his tail, got missile lo—" Something behind the three armors exploded and the radio suddenly filled with static.

"Dammit Barnes..." Glen was down to his last option, one he didn't want to be trying in an E-Valk. He ejected the damaged booster pod just a moment before it exploded and transformed into soldier mode to do a quick about-face. All three armors pushed through the cloud of vapor from the blown booster pod and charged towards him with guns blazing; Glen drew his gunpod and locked onto the first one. "If you want something done right..." He fired a long burst, catching the first armor in the main body as it closed and destroying it almost immediately. "...you've got to do it yourself..." He fired at the second armor, but both of them changed into their fighter modes and charged towards him. "...your own damn way!" He fired his thrusters and tried to back away from the enemy pods before they could get any closer...

One brilliant beam of energy struck out from above him, instantly reducing the armor to a cloud of fire and molten metal. The other machine changed into soldier mode and took aim, only to be smashed into atoms by a second beam from the same location. Glen looked over his shoulder nervously to see a strange group of fighters approaching from behind the wreckage of a Zentradi destroyer, a type he recognized from the briefing a few hours earlier. Each one was the size of a standard GSDF shuttle, with a small main body in the center and two massive nacelles on either side housing both the engines and the energy cannons that appeared to be miniaturizations of the Macross's main gun. Glen was disappointed at their timing, but then he reminded himself they were better late than never. "Parankazu squadrons, this is Major Sutherland. Enemy ships have been disabled, but we're having trouble with enemy defensive mecha. We need fire support..."

"Yeah, of course, you need us to take care of the pods and the new fighters so you can secure the ship's interior, right? You see, this is what happens when you don't rely on professionals."

Glen was sure the message was coming through a computer translator, but he could still detect a note of disdain in the pilot's voice. In this situation, however, he was inclined to let it slide; the other fighters of the protoculture squadron had all opened fire and enemy mecha were being blasted to bits ten or twenty at a time. Something about it reminded him of the Rain of Death that had devastated Earth all those years ago, and yet seeing it in this context, there was something very comforting about it all...

"How we doin back there Ed?"

"Just dandy. I just wish I brought a change of underwear..."

"You and me both." Glen turned the fighter towards the courier ships in the rear of the formation and moved in with his one good booster. "Goldfish Squadron, objective achieved. Send word to the Megaroad and have them send over a marine squadron to finish the second phase of the operation."

—13:40 GST—  
It could only be said that all of them were improving. Rollins was getting better grouping at this range, Fusé had stopped sneezing every time he pulled the trigger, and once her foot stopped hurting from her little mishap with the rifle several days before, Minmei managed to fire the rifle without hitting herself in the face with every recoil. By the time the swelling under her eye went down from that disastrous first attempt, she could actually put a bullet on part of the target about half the time, which for her was quite an accomplishment. Sergeant Jefferson stood over her disapprovingly from start to finish and scrutinized her performance with a pair of binoculars. "Jesus Christ, Pop Star! If you ever produced a bad album you'd be easy prey!"

"It's the best I can do sir." Minmei said gruffly.

Jefferson rolled his eyes. "Lady, you're gonna end up the only female on the damn ship who can't shoot strait."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Minmei looked up.

"Imura Elensh is gonna be your C.O, and she is notoriously chauvinist. Every woman under her command is supposed to be some kind of ace, and if they're not, Captain Elensh usually _makes_ them train to be one. Some kind of old-school Zentradi thing, she doesn't believe in men being better officers than women."

Minmei knew Imura from before, she'd met her in the hospital after Misa's injury and had talked to her a few times since then. As it happened, she was also the only person who ever lived that Minmei was more afraid of than her deceased husband. She loaded another clip into the rifle, then took the clip out and loaded it the right way, then took the clip out again and loaded one that still had bullets in it, then took aim and tried again. Only every third shot came anywhere near the target, but Minmei reloaded again.

"By the way Pop Star," Jefferson said, "What're they payin you for all this?"

"Paying me, sir?" Minmei said. She fired off yet another poorly aimed shot over the horizon and felt the trigger seize up. She thought back to Jefferson's instructional from three days ago and realized that the feed bolt must have jammed. "What makes you think someone's paying me, sir?" She started to work the bolt free, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"Sergeant Horace said you were doing all this to get ready for a new movie. We've had that alot lately, Scott King was here three weeks ago to get ready for some new action movie..."

"I'm not doing this for a movie, sir." Minmei picked up a small rock and started hammering at the bolt, trying to free up the jam. "During the last war I used songs on the Zentradi, maybe I can do it again on the Victory." She tapped the bolt harder with the rock; it slipped off the metal and nicked the side of her finger, turning her knuckle black and blue almost immediately. "Ow, geez!"

"I figured as much. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about guns and ammo, just stick to what you do best." Jefferson pulled out a field knife, grabbed the rifle, and in one quick movement he cleared the jam in the rifle and handed it back to her. "By the way, stop by my office tonight after chow time. I'd like to discuss something with you."

"Yes sir." Minmei looked at the rifle, wondering with some irritation just how in the world he managed to do that so quickly.

"Oh, and... bring a pen." Jefferson stood up to move on down the line and supervise the other recruits.

Minmei caught on to what he was trying to say and smiled. "How do you like that. I guess fans can come in all shapes and sizes..."

—May 2, 2018—  
—22:45 GST—  
Misa was nervous, but there was still hope. Suddenly regaining the use of her legs seemed like a blessing from the gods, but not nearly as much as the report Varcus had given her only a few hours hence. Two more Macbeth class cruisers, marked SDF-10 "Rikaan" and SDF-11 "Kaze" had been finished several weeks ahead of schedule thanks to the timely restoration of a section of the factory block. Both of those ships had been under construction right alongside the Macbeth, but both had been delayed due to a series of mechanical failures in the system. Though the GSDF still didn't have enough ships to form a fleet around these two command cruisers and couldn't realistically hope to for the next five months, it was very good news indeed. Another big gun cruiser, even by itself, would go a long way when the time finally did come.

What made her the most nervous was the fact that the time would come at all. It felt like a clock ticking in the back of her mind, and the race against it to find out what the enemy was hiding before it was too late. Hikaru had been a big help, working with her to sort out the tactical reports to help figure out where to focus the search, and he had even gone up on a few scouting missions (with Miko in the back seat no less) to help get a sense of what their fleet was up to, but when it was all said and done it came down to one last question: "What don't we know yet?" She said again, rubbing her head as if trying to push the answer into her scalp.

Hikaru and Misa had both been staring at the same action report for almost an hour, trying to tack some relevance to the data and figure out what, if anything it meant when the signal came in from SDF-2, relayed directly to Misa's office without even needing confirmation from the bridge. "Admiral Hayase, this is SDF-2 reporting on the Gassu-Delcaan operation."

Misa had been waiting for this. Out of all of their intelligence gathering missions, this one was the most important. "Did it work out?"

"Perfectly, Admiral. They responded to Victory's raid exactly the way you said they would. That scout unit didn't even see us coming."

Misa's fist grew so tight she almost punctured herself with her fingernails. "What did you find out?"

"Data from the courier's navigation computer indicate a route following vectors Z-plus two parsecs from where we captured it. Commander Ryder plotted it to a likely travel distance, assuming the Supervision Army has a base in this area. There are alot of stars in that area, but only four of them have planets: Borkay, Wukan, Kelksu, and Kaladan. We should probably search one of those four."

Hikaru looked at the systems Corina mentioned on a 3D chart and had the computer draw a sphere around the Wukan system eight light-years wide. "If they're trying to setup a base, they'll need a stable system with tolerable radiation levels. That means no neutron stars or anything..."

"Which rules out Kelksu," Corina said, having already looked over the data on her own charts. "Borkay and Wukan are close enough to search, but enemy activity doesn't seem to move towards Borkay."

Misa was trembling with anticipation. "I'll send Broli's fleet to investigate the Wukan system, but I really don't think that's where it is. It's probably around there somewhere so... Just to be sure, take the Victory in a search pattern through the systems in that area that don't have planets, just in case they're hiding something. Make a stop through Borkay on the way out."

"We'll fold immediately sir. But what about Kaladan? It's just close enough to be a candidate but it's too far to scout that area without enemy ships harassing us."

Misa thought about this, and suddenly it occurred to her that this was true for many more reasons than simple location. "We'll send Hallas's division to scout the system and see if anything's going on in there. The records show there's nothing terribly interesting about the Kaladan system but..."

"A hunch, I understand. We'll begin our patrol and stand by for orders, sir..." A man standing behind Corina came up behind her and whispered something in her ear. She listened for a moment, then nodded as if remembering. "Also, one of the border worlds on the lower frontier has finally opened communications with us. We've linked up with a squadron of raiders from their military, and they've asked to open a dialogue with our central government."

Hikaru raised a brow. There were only a few inhabited worlds that close to Gallaron, none of them with any real combative abilities but all of them—so far—willing allies with Gallaron in the fight against the Supervision Army. The Parankazu from the planet Suran had been one of the few who until now stubbornly refused to speak to anyone at any time. Twenty five light years separated their two planets—a fleet jump in cosmic terms. "Any idea what they want?"

"No idea. I talked to them a little bit, but they would like to speak with someone a little higher up. They don't have many warships, but lots of small fighters like miniature Macross cannons..." The man muttered something under his breath, and Corina laughed. "Major Sutherland here thinks these Suranians are a rowdy bunch. They're like Zentradi only with shorter tempers." Corina glanced over her shoulder at the Major and chuckled.

Misa stared at her suspiciously for a moment and decided to cut the conversation short. "You should... Tell them to proceed to Gallaron orbit and meet with Dr. Varcus for debriefing. Mean time, you get to your patrol."

"Right away sir." Corina saluted and closed the channel from that end.

Misa stared at the blank monitor for a few moments, then turned slightly and glanced at Hikaru. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Hikaru said boredly.

Misa replayed the conversation in her mind and froze it on the moment Major Sutherland whispered to her. "He was flirting with her."

"Who?"

"Sutherland, her CAG officer. Didn't you see that... that look?"

"What look?" Hikaru said, suddenly growing tired.

"That _look_! It's that same transparent look all men have when they have only one thing on their mind. He was totally flirting with her!"

Hikaru shrugged. "So what? She's a young, healthy, attractive woman. It would be rude _not_ to flirt with her." Misa turned her hear slowly and looked at him, showing him a very different kind of look. Hikaru felt like he was in freefall. "Uhhh... I mean... well _almost_."

"You would just flirt with her in the open like that?" She said slowly.

"Uhhh... Of course not, I have _you_ to flirt with! But single men just put out a vibe sometimes, it's totally harmless, innocent little flirt between colleagues. You know how it is."

"I guess..." Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief, certain he had avoided the hot water he himself had stirred up. Misa still felt uneasy all the same. "I'll say this much, it had better be fully harmless and completely innocent. God only knows what kind of shit would hit the fan if Broli suspected his wife was cheating on him."

Hikaru sighed. "Good point, but you forget that when Zentradi get pissed, it's usually bodies hitting fan."

—May 22, 2018—  
—19:50 GST—  
Not surprisingly, the training bridge of this ship was modeled precisely after the SDF-09 Victory, but being so small there was only a limited number of people they could fit into it at any given time. They broke the recruits down into groups of twelve and stuffed them all into the room to give them general briefings, with just enough room for them to take down all the information into notebooks to prepare for their final exams. "This is the standard control panel for the OTEC tactical computer system." Lieutenant Hartman, the Bridge Ops instructor was saying. "Generally, normal functions of navigation and maneuvering are handled from the navigation bridge one level bellow us, but in combat situations, the helm can be co-operated from this consol using simple computer commands. The only time they do this is when the mission requires some precision maneuvering, but even then most of the work is left up to the navigation bridge. Are you getting all this?" Lieutenant Hartman turned around to a dozen young recruits all scratching away on notebooks with pens, writing down everything he said word for word. He gave them a moment to catch up, then went on with the briefing. "In normal operation, this consol controls all functions of the ship's fixed offensive and defensive systems, but note that these systems are manually controlled by other departments within the control tower. The tactical officer's duty is to relay commands between the Captain and the various fire control stations around the ship quickly and clearly. You already have the procedure for radio communications from the notes we took yesterday in the operations bridge and the control rooms, now you can see why. The person standing here in the front right console on the bridge is your direct superior, and he's responsible for everything you do and everything that happens to you. Make your radio calls clear and brief, and whatever happens, do _not_ piss this person off."

Minmei wrote down all those notes and underlined the last sentence. "What happens if we _do_ piss him off?" She said innocently.

Hartman nodded at the question. "Like I said yesterday, only way to anger your superiors is to not follow procedures, which leads to mistakes, which results in your ship being blown out of the sky with all hands. So basically, if you do something to piss off your tactical officer you probably won't live long enough to get chewed out."

"Right, thanks." Minmei jotted down the rest of the notes as Hartman moved on the first officers station.

"Get to know the ship's exec, because if you hear her voice on your radio then you know something important's about to happen. The first officer is basically the co-captain of the ship, but she'll also be the voice and the ears of the ship. You hear anything from her, you can be it probably comes straight down from the Captain."

"How do you know it's a woman?" Someone said from the back of the room.

"Victory's first officer is meltran former ace pilot named Mia Gouraz. The only other person on the ship with more combat experience is Captain Elensh herself, so keep _her_ happy as well. It's not as critical as the tactical officer, but believe me you'll be alot happier if you can get on her good side."


	13. Chapter 12: Lady of Starlight

Chapter 12: The Lady of Starlight

—June 19, 2018—  
—14:30 GST—  
SDF-Gaviaten finally arrived at it's destination after a series of short but quick jumps. The Kaladan system, arguably the most unremarkable stellar landmark in the universe. It had many planets, most of them in satellite orbit around the three massive gas giants in the system, the other four being mid sized worlds a quite bit smaller than Gallaron but still alittle bit larger than the micran home world Earth. The ancient charts didn't have any information on this system, which to him indicated that there was never anything there worth visiting in the first place, but the old records also indicated an old legend that ghosts lurked in the Kaladan system and that it should be avoided at all costs. There were alot of these little legends floating around, so Hallas was inclined to ignore them.

Once SDF-08 and the scout unit from the 6th fleet arrived at Kaladan in orbit of the 4th planet, they immediately dispatched a squadron of E-Valks with recon packs, searching the system for any sign of enemy activity. General Hallas found himself bored with this whole situation. Everyone knew there was nothing dangerous in the Kaladan system, it didn't make sense to be worried about anything. The ship was in cruiser mode when it arrived and half of the officers were asleep at their posts, which was where Hallas wanted to be right now. "Lieutenant Raltha, I'll be in my quarters. Let me know if they find anything."

"Yes sir." Raltha sat back in his seat and rested for a moment, waiting for the familiar post-fold calm that usually followed all the systems checks and scrambling of fighters. No sooner had General Hallas closed the door behind him, all hell suddenly broke loose on the radar and the comm channels. Two meltrandi in Queadlunn-Rau armors were screaming at the top of their lungs, and after listening to the signals for a few seconds and sorting through a number of other voices that suddenly joined them, Raltha pieced together just enough to move his hand to the dial to sound general quarters.

Hallas stopped in the corridor barely half a step from the elevator and went strait back to the bridge, finding his officers already exploding into action. "What happened!"

"We've got fighters and battlepods coming in from all sides! Patrol units are overwhelmed, the others are scrambling now!"

Hallas punched up a tactical display on this monitor from the E-Valk recons and the ship's own radar system. There were so many enemies around them the formation almost read like one massive vessel instead of thousands of small ones. "Do we have a target!"

"Too many of them! I can't..."

"Three battleships and two destroyers, sir!" The radar officer called out. "No, four battleships and six destroyers... General, it's an entire line fleet! They're just now coming into range of our scanners!"

"Then they shouldn't be within firing range yet..." Hallas said, not really planning on going anywhere with this line of thought. "How'd they sneak up on us like that! Didn't the sensors pick them up!"

Raltha checked the data again and listened to the pannic on the radio. "Queadlunn-Rau units report the enemy appears to be ascending from the surface of the 4th planet! They're... incoming fire!"

"Reflex barriers!" Hallas grabbed onto his chair just as an energy beam slammed into the barrier system on the underside of the ship. Barrier control registered a 40 power loss to the field, which was a pretty clear indication of what kind of weapon had fired on them. "Raltha, trace the firing point immediately!"

"I came from the surface sir! Enemy ground-based energy cannon..." Another beam fired up from the planet below, along with several others aimed at his fleet. Hallas saw one of the beams slam into one of the destroyers on his port side, punching through all four pinpoint barriers at once and blowing the ship in two. "The P'karg's been hit sir! The cruisers Lamiz and Femiz are reporting damage and the Kyunan's going down!"

Hallas broke into a cold sweat. They were poised in orbit over what appeared to be a gauntlet of particle cannons not unlike the shore batteries of the GSDF, only the Supervision Army had never been known for doing things on a small or even medium scale... "Have all ships activate emergency systems and fold out of here right now! Recall all fighters and begin flash evac procedures!"

"All fighters returning sir, but enemy pods and mecha are closing in behind them!"

"Missile batteries, buy them some time! Helm, move the ship on a lateral trajectory to keep their ground gunners from hitting us!"

The navigation officers replied promptly and the ship started to move sideways just as another beam fired from far below, missing the ship by only a few dozen meters and striping the paint off the entire starboard side. Four other ships weren't so lucky; the two damaged cruisers were finished off by another blast from the ground, along with a Zentradi carrier and a destroyer caught in a maelstrom of fire from at least 6 different guns. Hallas noticed that more cannons were firing now than there were in the first barrage, which indicated to him that the enemy was just getting warmed up. The next barrage would probably have even more of them. "Navigation, I want my fold drives up to power! We only have 7 ships left!"

"A few more seconds, Captain! We need more power!"

"We don't have a few more...!" Several explosions almost one after another went off barely a hundred meters in front of the command tower, the death rattles of battlepods caught by a spread of missiles from the ships defensive batteries. More and more missiles fired and more lasers opened up, but at that same time plasma cannon fire from thousands of battlepods began pounding the hull in what looked exactly like a heavy rain storm. Even weapons as small as that would reduce the ship to shredded tinfoil in a matter of minutes with that kind of conentration, and the variable fighters and powered armors around the ship were being cut down a hundred at a time. Hallas watched one of his particle turrets buckle and explode under the assault from the enemy swarms, and then suddenly he had an idea. "Kumu, full surface scan! Upload the data to the rest of the fleet until they're ready to fold! Helm, dive the ship towards the planet immediately! We're going to fire the main cannon!"

Everyone understood what Hallas was saying even as he gave the orders. It wasn't like they had a choice; their odds of making it our alive were slim enough anyway. "Beginning scan sir, transmitting data. I have the location of the enemy's ground cannons if you..."

"You're damn right I do! Nose down 80 and line up the shot!" The Gaviaten was already pointing towards the planet, and under Kumu's careful hand it aimed its bow directly at the glowing stalks of the defensive cannons on the surface. The main cannon now opened and prepared to answer the enemy's attack, even as battlepods and powered armors were tearing the ship apart inch by inch. "Main cannon, full power! Fire when ready!"

"Taking aim sir..." Kumu caught a glimpse of something flashing on the planet below, a tiny point of light flickering through the chaos of the attacking pods. The only reason he could see it was because it seemed to be passing into the night side of the planet, but before he could react to it the glimmer burst into a brilliant flare that almost blinded him before he put up his hand to cover his eyes. The beam from the energy cannon hit the ship a few degrees of center, raking along the armor plating on the port side, blasting the ARMD platform and the main engine on that side to bits. Stricken by the blast, SDF-08 began spinning out of control before another blast struck the vessel, this time hitting the main hull just between the two booms of the open main cannon. The doomed ship lingered for a few moments before it's entire mass was enveloped in a powerful explosion of nuclear energies, destroying everything around the ship either friend or foe.

The cannons on the ground fired up again, striking down two more destroyers and another cruiser with a single shot each before the remaining four ships of the scout team finally managed to activate their fold drives and escape the system.

Four out of twelve ships escaped to rejoin the rest of the 6th fleet, and upon their arrival immediately loaded SDF-08's last transmissions to the computers of their comrades for analysis. All twenty three vessels remaining in the 6th fleet immediately powered up for another fold, this time heading strait back to within range of the comm. relays to spread the word. The Supervision Army was in the Kaladan system.

—June 22, 2018—  
—07:10 GST—  
Kai Chan's eyes were fixed on the schematic before him, as were the other marines gathered behind them. The oversized holographic screen in the Macron briefing room displayed the image of a fighter design he had never seen before; something about it was highly reminiscent of the normal VF-1 Valkyrie design, but it seemed different somehow, more sleek, more curves, as of a mad scientist had completely torn the fighter apart and put it back together with entirely new components. He wasn't entirely sure if what he was looking at was a Valkyrie upgrade or a new fighter altogether. "When do they arrive?" He said nervously.

Imura was standing on the catwalk next to them, looking at the same schematic on a smaller screen on the bulkhead next to her. "We're expecting ten units on the next supply ship, along with the new parts for that Apache prototype the labs have been working on. The unit is scheduled for mass production, but the assembly lines to build them aren't complete yet and won't be ready until much later this year. Alpha Factory is giving them to us because they want real-world combat data, and a test of their new systems."

Lieutenant Beecher looked over Kai Chan's shoulder, "And you're assigning this..." she read off the text under the schematic, "VFX-12 A.T.V.F. to the ten of us?"

"Your squad has pioneered a number of new designs during the course of the war. You're being type-cast as our combat test-pilots."

Boris shrugged passively. "I can live with that. If anything we might be able to get some descent food from now on."

"Good thinking, Boris," Kai Chan turned slowly from the schematics and looked at his micronized commanding officer standing on the catwalk next to him, "Is there anything in particular you want to use these fighters for? Recon missions, squadron leaders..."

"Actually, Captain, it's the ten of you that interest me more than the fighters."

"How so?"

"Your group seems to have a knack for pulling off really difficult missions... you rather remind me of the old Quodrono units of the Meltran fleet..." It occurred to her all at once that Kai Chan and his team lacked a frame of reference to the Quodrono... or did they? "Your squad is being re-designated to Marine Recon Special Forces. Your codename will be Section Zero."

All ten of them suddenly began to tremble with excitement. "M-M-Marine Recon?" Beecher said, a quiver in her voice.

"Special Forces..." Alako added.

Private Forest, as usual, was the only one to state it openly, "Dagnammit, Skippa, we done started playin wit da big dowgs!"

"Do we have the training for that?" Kai Chan said self consciously, "You know, Special Forces isn't just a badge you can pin to somebody's chest..."

Imura frowned, "In this war, we consider ourselves lucky if the regulars have any combat skills at all. Trust me, you're as close to Elite as any unit in this woman's army."

"I guess that's true." Kai Chan tapped the controls next to the monitor and the image of the new VF disappeared, "If you don't mind me asking, who's gonna take command of the battalion with the rest of us transferred like this?"

"Captain Brooks is fully capable. In fact, she's expressed an interest in taking your job once you get killed."

"That she has... good thing it didn't come to that."

Imura nodded and turned to leave the room without another word, disappearing through the smaller hatch leading to the passageway into the Miclone section of the Victory. Kai Chan and the newly formed "Section Zero" stood around and stared at each other, each both feeling and seeing each other as far more important than ever before. "Special Forces," Kai Chan said wistfully, "Damn, do you have any idea the kinda benefits they give you?"

"I'm aware of that, but aren't those Marine Recon types supposed to be frickin invincible?" Beecher asked, suddenly nervous, "I'm not sure I'm up to that."

"In this day and age, it takes a real ace to get that kind of status. We're the aces on this ship, at least in the infantry. I suggest we act the part."

"What do you mean, act the part?"

Kai Chan stared at Beecher with a sudden mischievous glint in his eye, "It means we're going to drill like we've never drilled before."

Alak and Forest both said in unison, "Oh shit..."

"Suit up, gang, get your armors. We've got work to do." Kai Chan pushed past them and opened the Macron-sized door to the infantry hangar, leaving the other nine soldiers of Section Zero shaking their heads in sudden frustration.

"I'm not sure I wanna be in Special Forces anymore..." Alako said bitterly, "Kai Chan's taking this too seriously."

"That's because this is a serious thing, Aziz." Beecher followed Kai Chan out of the room, "_Very_ serious. Get in the spirit, man, this could be fun!"

—09:41 GST—  
"Today begins the last and for some the most difficult part of basic space fleet training." Captain Topper said dramatically. "Travel in space can be one of the most physically demanding experiences of you lives, so over the next few weeks we will be working with each of you to make your space flight experience more comfortable. Now Rollins, Minmei and... what's your name?"

"Fusé."

"Right. You three got a little taste of this on the Macross so this test _should_ be the only thing you're not used to."

"Begging your pardon sir," Rollins said, tugging at the flight suit they had given him barely an hour earlier. "Is there a point to all this? I mean we're not going out for..."

Topper rolled his eyes, irritated at being asked the same question once gain. "You know something, every week I have to deal with a hundred cadets complaining about how pointless this exercise is since none of you are fighter pilots. You know how I handle that question?"

"What?"

"Anyone who asks gets an extra rotation. Just as will you, Mr. Rollins."

"Me and my big mouth..." Rollins said sadly.

Topper grinned at him and went on with the briefing. "Now, those of you from Earth will have a natural handicap since you're already in higher than normal gravity, but the protocrans shouldn't have too much of a problem with this."

All of the recruits were nervous, all wrapped in GSDF flight suits exactly like the ones used by VF pilots, but Minmei was distressed that hers seemed about three sizes too small. Whenever she brought it to the attention of the instructors they waved her off and told her not to worry about it, which in too many ways had quite the opposite effect. "How much force are we getting sir?" She said, tugging at the fittings again.

"It's calibrated in Earth gravities, so... about 8 Gs. Keep in mind, since none of you are on the pilot track there's no way you can fail this test, this is just to get an indication of your personal G-tolerance." Everyone nodded, a few people clenched their fists to keep their hands from shaking. "Rollins, you're up first. Fusé, you're up second, Pop Star goes third. The rest of you draw straws or something to figure out the order."

Everyone else sat down on benches outside the control room, but Minmei felt herself tense up nervously. She didn't even think, just reacted on instinct. "Can I go first sir?"

Captain Topper shot her an amused glance. "First?"

"I'm afraid for my life, this machine actually haunts me in my nightmares. I'd like to get this over with, if that's okay with you."

It took every ounce of self control for the Captain to keep from busting out laughing. "Alright then Pop Star, saddle up." He opened the door and let Minmei into the control office outside the centrifuge. All three technicians inside turned around and smiled at her before Topper pushed her into the inner door.

She entered into a massive circular chamber about 50 meters across with a huge motor-cylinder in the center attached to a long metal arm with what a small pod attached to the end of it. That was her destination. She walked across the chamber, climbed up the ladder into the pod and strapped herself in as tightly as she could with her hands shaking. Captain Topper put a helmet over her head and connected the lines for the radio and tubes for the breathing, and finally she was ready to go. "You'll... uhhh... you'll stop this thing if anything goes wrong, won't you?" Minmei said nervously.

Topper started closing the hatch. "Probably."

"Probably!"

Topper closed the hatch on her mid sentence and walked back across the chamber to the control room to start up the test. Once there, he glanced over to the other technicians and grinned. "Two thousand Yulins says she passes out by 5 Gs."

"You're on." The technician said, throwing the switch to start the simulation while fishing into his pockets for the money. "By the way, you noticed that flight suit is a bit too small for her?"

Topper chuckled. "That's intentional. I had the mechanics alter her measurements by a couple of inches."

The technician grinned again. "Looks good on her."

"_Damn_ good." Topper added. "C'mon, let's start her up."

—July 1, 2018—  
—24:30 GST—  
Hikaru came home like he always did to the ever-present energy of his wife, sitting at a desk milling over combat actions reports again. As he always did after the day's shift, Colonel Ichijo dropped into his favorite arm chair and leaned back as much as he could, letting anything that might have stressed him out before simply melt away into nothingness. In minutes he would be asleep, and there he would stay for two more hours until it was time for one of them to pick Miko up from school, at which point life would resume as normal again. But today was different; almost as soon as he dropped his weight into the chair, Misa appeared next to him with a wild look in her eyes that made him think he had forgotten something. "Okay... What did I do?"

"Nothing yet, but I need you to shopping."

"Shopping? Now?"

"Right now." Misa said sternly.

Hikaru groaned. He should have seen this coming miles away; he got home dead-tired with a splitting headache and the only thing he wanted to do was relax, and here Misa already had a list of chores for him to do. "I want a divorce."

"Fine with me, but you _still_ have to go shopping."

Hikaru sighed. "Alright, what do we need?"

Misa handed him a shopping list and a wad of cash out of her purse. "The sooner you get to it all, the sooner you can come back and relax. And by the way, it's your turn to do the dishes tonight."

"Yeah, thanks." Hikaru got up out of his chair, grabbed his coat and started out the door. "I'll be back later." He closed the door behind him and started walking down the hallway.

Misa giggled to herself after he was gone. She knew his patterns, he wouldn't look at the list until he was already outside the building and on his way to the store so he could decide which way to go. This was the same kind of prank she had pulled on him several times before, but getting him with it a this time was a major point of amusement for her. She stood up carefully and waited in front of the door for a few minutes. She imagined he was walking out the front door... now he was checking his pockets and seeing how much he needed... now he was understanding it all and turning around angrily... right on time, Misa heard the sound of clumsy footsteps running back down the hall. After a moment, the door burst open and Hikaru stepped back into the apartment with a grim expression on his face. "Very funny." He said, holding a roll of Monopoly money in his hand.

"You fall for that every time!" Misa said, handing him a wad of real bills.

"That's not fair!" Hikaru slapped the list down on the desk and walked back over to his couch. "You keep getting me when I'm half asleep, that's cheating!"

Misa laughed again and picked up the shopping list out of his pocket. "Is it fair to tickle-torture a paraplegic until she passes out? I think not. Actually, I was hoping you would notice one of the items on the list, but I can see now you didn't really look at this list anyway, and that more than anything makes me feel so unappreciated and ashamed..."

"Alright, I'll read it again! GEEZ!" Hikaru snatched the list out of her hand and read it over before she could complain again.

2 quarts Milk  
3 sticks of butter  
1 bag of pocky  
A new baby  
1 bag of rainbow sprinkles  
2 bags of flower  
A dozen eggs  
1 tub of cool whip

Hikaru looked up and shrugged. "What am I supposed to notice?"

Misa stared at him for a moment, not sure if he was serious or not. "Are you not paying attention or something?"

Hikaru crumpled up the list and tossed it across the room. "Seems like every time I turn around my wife's having babies. This is getting tiresome, ya know?" Misa stared at him for a long moment, letting the awkwardness of the situation slowly evolve into humor until both of them broke into laughter. "Miko's gonna flip, you know that right?" Hikaru said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. "I guess we could call it an early birthday present... or a late one, depending on how you look at it."

"Koru says it's probably a girl."

Hikaru laughed again. "If that's true you _know_ she's gonna go crazy over this! You know what, let's go get her from school right now and have a little celebration!"

"Don't get her hopes up like that! What if it's a boy?" Misa said.

Hikaru pulled away from her and reached for Misa's coat. "In that case, I'LL be the one celebrating. How does Roy Ichijo sound?" Misa shot him an accusing glance, and Hikaru shrank down half an inch. "Did I say Roy? I meant Takashi after your father. Yeah Takashi Ichijo, sounds good right?"

Misa nodded in appreciation. "That's better."

Hikaru was in a good mood over this to say the least, but for some reason he had it in his mind that a good mood was the best mood to let Misa in on a family secret. "Misa, there's one thing you need to know that just might complicate matters."

"Which is?" She said, fighting back feelings of deja-vu from the last three times he had tried to tell her something and been interrupted.

"When you were hurt on the Megaroad during that big battle..."

Misa waved him off. "Let me guess. I miscarried and didn't know it?"

Hikaru did a double take. Suddenly the entire burden of having to break the news to Misa had vanished before his eyes, and somehow he felt both cheated and relived at the same time. "How the hell did you know about that!"

"Miko told me." She said smugly. "She overheard you talking to Koru about having another child and she came to me and said the doctor didn't like the way I carried things. It was so cute, I couldn't bring myself to get all depressed about it."

Hikaru sighed with relief and disappointment. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It was a question of timing, I completely understand. Anyway, that's the main reason I got those incense cigars. Gashi taught me some kind of morning ritual to help protect the spirit of unborn children as long as the child is conceived 24 hours afterwards. So every morning, right before you woke up, that's exactly what I did. Quite a coincidence isn't it?" Misa found herself growing amused by the look on her face until something else dawned on her. "By the way Hikaru, didn't you say you hired Miko to spy on me?"

Hikaru hung his head. "Two sour pops."

Misa gasped in horror. "I paid her _three_ sour pops! Why that little sneak! She's been playing double agent just to get extra candy!"

Hikaru chuckled. "I keep telling you, she's a genius. She's alot smarter than she'd like us to think. She's even started thinking of names for the baby."

Misa stepped forward and took her coat from Hikaru's hands. "Like what names?"

"She showed me this whole list the other day. If it's a girl, she demands that we name her 'Hitomi.'"

Misa paused and thought it over for a moment. "Why Hitomi?"

"She said it came to her in a dream. Something to do with Taosan and Yu and a church or something..."

"Really? You know... that actually sounds pretty good! Hitomi Ichijo... where'd she hear that name anyway? I don't know anyone named Hitomi."

"Genius. She must get that from her mother." Hikaru moved closer to her and put his hands on her waist. "Maybe Hitomi will inherit her father's good looks, you think?"

"Didn't you say the same thing about Miko?" Misa held up a wallet photo of Miko taken a year back. "You know, I was just thinking, with all that we've been through together, with our daughter and the war and me being crippled for over a year... I'm impressed with you, more than ever. I never thought you could be so... so strong for so many people..."

"You really think that's all me?" Hikaru tucked the picture back into Misa's purse. "I don't think I ever showed you, I mean really showed you how much I needed you. I couldn't do this without you, even if Miko IS my mental clone. Are you that impressed with your own handiwork?"

"Don't give me all the credit. Not all men can handle that responsibility, and Minmei's situation was just something to remind us of that."

Hikaru kissed Misa on the cheek and hugged her there for almost a minute, no thought, no cares, simply and purely happy to be here in this moment with her. Misa felt the same way, just overjoyed to be alive for now, even as the realization sank in that she wasn't actually alone with her husband right now, that something else was sharing this moment with them on some distant level. "C'mon, let's go give fly-girl the good news."

Misa smiled. "I'll get the net."

—August 1, 2018—  
—17:45 GST—  
The 7th fleet had not met any formal resupply since its departure from Gallaron eight months prior. Superdimensional warships were almost entirely self-sustaining, theoretically capable of operating in space for several years in complete autonomy. But the word from the survivors of General Hallas' expedition sent waves through the entire fleet, and now every last one of them was on the move. This meant fresh supplies: fresh ammunition stores, replacement pilots and fighters, spare parts, fuel, anything the fleet's local machine shops and production facilities would have a hard time manufacturing on their own. With a major fleet action like this, all the unit organizations would soon be reorganized, but on the whole, a Gallaron battle fleet was a closed mobile nation that only received outsiders once every two to three months with the arrival of a replacement cruiser or destroyer, or a small barge ferrying replacement pilots or planes to and from the fleet.

By this time, the GSDF maintained a fleet over just over four hundred ships of varying classes. A new recruit to the Super Dimensional Fleet could get into space one of two ways: she could be assigned to a new ship as part of its launch crew, or she could catch one of the annual or semi-annual heavy transport convoys intended to top off the fleet's stores of equipment and supplies. For this reason, few officers in the GSDF ever reached their stations without amply amounts of training, even some as poorly acclimated to military life as Lynn Minmei.

By the time she arrived in her new quarters, all of her things had been moved in by the transport committee and unloaded, not surprisingly, with especially delicate care. Some of the pictures she brought with her had been hung on the wall, the bed was made up and she even found a mint resting on her pillow when she looked around. Minmei couldn't help but laugh at it all, trying to picture a half dozen giddy enlisted men moving her stuff into the room as if it was all made of glass. "The perks of being famous..." She said to herself. "I bet the maintenance crew draw straws to see who gets to fix my shower when it breaks down."

Taosan was still sleeping in the stroller next to the door, but Yu was wide awake and examining his surroundings with wide eyes. He was obviously aware of his new surroundings, though whether or not he approved of this place was anyone's guess. He didn't seem to want to go to sleep anytime soon, and Minmei got an idea. "Hey Yu, what do you say? Wanna go see the ship? You wanna go out, see everything?" Yu fixed his two little eyes on his mother with a dazzled expression that she correctly translated as a yes. "C'mon then..." She picked him up from the stroller and carried him on her arm, using the other to open the door. She knew she still needed to report in to someone named Lieutenant Doyle, the man in charge of Victory's media department who was basically the commander of all the local combat correspondents, but her duty shift didn't officially start until the next day so she decided to take a few hours to relax for a bit before reporting to his office half a day early. Even in uniform, she still didn't feel like a soldier, whether she was carrying a one-year-old baby in her arms or not. But her assignment here did seem to fit what she expected to be doing on the Victory; she was part of the newly assembled "culture warfare" department.

She went all over the ship with Yu, showing him everything there was to see in their tiny little universe. She herself found she was seeing alot of it for the first time, it was totally different from the Macross. Most of the buildings were roughly the same size, separated by narrow allies that crossed a staircase to the lower levels. Every building was three stories tall, with the ceiling just fifteen feet above the tallest rooftops; the sky was painted with a holographic representation of the Gallaron sky, with built-in noise cancellers to prevent any echo from the city. The streets of Victory were narrow, too small for any car traffic—in a city devoid of cars—but more than wide enough for bicycles and motorcycles used by most of the population.

Even being smaller than Macross city, Minmei observed that it was quite well filled. The city block was divided into four "levels," and each level was divided into 5 "decks." Each deck seemed to contain a small town of its own, so at each deck of all four levels of the ship there was an entirely different neighborhood with it's own unique features. Just on Level Three, the top level of the city block where Minmei's apartment was, there was an entire community with its own self-contained businesses and services. There was a nursery school on A-Deck, a daycare center, a church, a dentist and a liquor store on B-Deck, an elementary school, shopping mall and playgrounds on C-Deck and a discount grocery store and hospital on D-Deck. E-Deck, it turned out, was entirely residential except for a pair of Buddhist temples packed into the corners, but just going through level three took Minmei almost an hour and she didn't bother looking through the other two levels andten decks of the ship's compressed city block. Even being smaller in terms of volume than Macross City, she could tell the Victory made much better use of it's space.

What interested her the most was what could be found in the compartment just forward of the city block, an area arranged in much the same fashion, only the top four decks were all non-existent except for a catwalk on deck three of each one. Minmei ventured into this section, not sure what she was looking for but eager to try out her curiosity to see what there was to see. The catwalk followed a narrow corridor (by macron standards anyway) running from port to starboard with two enormous doors, both macron scale, set into the forward bulkhead on opposite ends. Both were labeled in Zentradi, one of them marked "Armory" and the other marked "Barracks." She was only a few steps into the section on the catwalk with Yu squirming around in her arms, looking around at everything in utter amazement until both of them heard the unmistakable clatter of a giant's footsteps. She realized the sound was coming from one of the lower levels, and followed the sound to one small hatch on the other side of the corridor with a giant-sized ladder poking up from it. She watched it for a few moments as the footsteps became louder and louder, then held her breath as they paused, then smiled as the ladder started vibrating with the load that was pulling its way to the top now.

Just as one massive head emerged from the opening, Minmei heard the familiar sound of a grumpy marine. "... yeah that was _really_ damn funny... bunch of monkey-ass bastards..." he was grumbling.

"Hey, loverboy!" Minmei shouted out. "Guess who came to visit?"

Kai Chan stopped on the ladder and turned his head, not quite believing what he was seeing. "Minmei!"

"You were expecting Bette Midler?" She said, trying not to smile too big.

"No way!" Kai Chan climbed off the ladder and knelt down in the narrow corridor to look at her face to face, so to speak. "What are you doing here! And where'd you get that uniform!"

"I enlisted with the media corps. You're looking at the new lead singer for the Victory's band."

Kai Chan was less surprised by this than at seeing her here on the ship. It seemed like wherever there was a stage, Minmei was somewhere nearby. "Someone did tell me they brought in some new talent... I had no idea it would be _you_ though! Welcome aboard!"

"Thank you... oh, are you too big to tell which twin this is?" She held him up a bit so Kai Chan could see him.

"It's..." Kai Chan squinted at the tiny object squirming around in her arms. "That's definitely Yu."

"No, it's Taosan." Minmei said.

"It's Taos...? Quite playing, that's Yu."

Minmei chuckled and kissed Yu's head. "You're getting better at this Kai Chan..."

"Kat Shan!" Yu shouted, staring at the oversized marine in front of him. "Kat Shan! Kat San! Kat Shan!" He chanted, waving his arms up and down in rhythm.

Kai Chan was impressed. "Cute little guy. When did he start talking?"

"Just now, I think!" Minmei said, holding him up a bit so she could see him better. "Taosan started talking while I was training, but Yu's never said anything until just now!"

Kai Chan looked at Yu for a moment and started glowing. "How do you like that? I'm the kid's first word!"

"Imagine that..." Minmei said, too quiet for Kai Chan to hear. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where the band meets on this ship do you? I keep worrying about getting lost..."

"It's right bellow the main antenna in the command tower. That'll be command level, E-Deck, section L, room 519. It's a big door with "Starlight" written on the nametag."

"Starlight?"

"That's the unofficial name of the band. Kinda corny, but it starts to grow on you after a bit. They've been selling albums in the city for a couple of weeks but no one buys them. Then again, now that _you're_ here I'm sure they'll go flying off the shelves."

"I hate to say it but you're probably right." Minmei turned Yu around and put his ear right up to her face. "Say Bye bye, Yu!"

"Bye Kat Shan!" Yu shouted.

"He's a genius, Kai!" Minmei said, turning to go on her way.

"Sure is." Kai Chan squinted down again to try and focus on little Yu, glaring at him over his mothers shoulder as she walked back down the catwalk to meet up with her fellow band members. "By the way, the fastest way to get anywhere in the ship is with the omni-rail. There's one on every corner of the city, with three cars in a vertical shaft that operate just like elevators. One of them is express, goes strait to the bridge and main fighter bays and doesn't stop unless you tell it to."

"Ok, thanks." Minmei looked around slowly and located a sign pointing to the nearest rail platform that could take her pretty much anywhere on the ship she wanted to go.

"Oh Minmei,"

"Yeah?"

"It's uh... it's great to see you again."

Minmei stopped on the catwalk and beamed at him, her cheeks glowing just a bit. "It's good to see you too, Kai. I mean that."


	14. Chapter 13: Specialist

Chapter 13: Specialist

—August 1, 2018—  
—25:30 GST—  
Minmei was no good at standing at attention or playing soldier, but first impressions, she knew, were important for a group of people she would have to work with for at least the next few months. Commander Gouraz had been kind enough to give her the service records of the other eight band members, though she had mentioned that four of these people were little more than common groupies. The guy on the mixing board she already knew, a mysterious Jamaican man known only as "Clem" with shoulder length dreadlocks and narrow sunglasses he almost never took off, but the other three she didn't at all recognize. She thumbed through the service records, but gave up after a two minute effort when she realized she had no idea what they meant. She decided to meet them the old fashion way, and the first order of business was to stop by Lieutenant Doyle's office.

She knocked on the door, listened for a moment, then knocked again. This time there was a very muffled and bored sounding "What now?" as the door opened.

The room was mostly dark inside, and Minmei poked her head inside, not really sure if anyone was there. "Lieutenant Doyle?"

"Come on in."

The lights came up a few levels and Minmei was confronted by a man in a Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat, leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the desk in the corner of his office. The office itself, interestingly enough, looked less like an office as it did a college dorm room the day after spring break; there was a cactus in the corner with a shirt hanging on the thistles, a guitar leaning against the side of the desk at an odd angle and old newspapers lining the floor along the entire left side of the room. The only other thing she noticed right now was that part of the wall next to the desk was completely covered over with clippings of pornography. Minmei stopped standing at attention. "Good morning. My uhhh... my name is..."

"Oh it's you! Good to see you again!"

Only now did Minmei get a good look at his face; under the straw hat and the Hawaiian shirt the face finally matched up in her memory; the executive producer at the Galaxy Boulevard Opera Theatre. She'd worked for him for over a year before the theatre closed for renovations (mostly paid for by her performances in his musicals) but for some reason seeing him again was a source of very little pleasure. "You _enlisted_, Boss?"

Doyle shook his head. "They reactivated my commission. I was reinstated eight moths ago. Anyway, Minmei— or Ling, if you prefer— I see you followed Kai Chan's advice, huh? Come to sing the enemy into submission?"

Minmei shrugged. "Something like that."

"I thought so. How're the kids? Last time we spoke was..." Doyle thought about it, not able to remember.

"Closing night of The Mikado." Minmei said. "The kids are fine, Taosan stopped getting sick all the time and Yu's finally talking. Doesn't have much to say, but at least he knows how."

Mr. Doyle—rather, Lieutenant Doyle— smiled contently. "I had hoped your family could get off to a good start, I'm glad you're doing alright. You know I always look out for my stars."

"I know that." In fact she knew it perfectly well. Even before he knew of her identity, even before anyone knew his real name, Mr. Doyle had always been watching her back, both on stage and in life. He had given her unexpected bonuses out of his own pocket book when he somehow figured out she was pregnant, and he even offered to pay the medical bills when Taosan and Yu were born. And later, when she opted to go back to work at the opera, Doyle had three times cut checks for toys, clothes, baby food, day care, never asking for anything in return. By no stretch of imagination could he have passed as a father figure to any sane person, but Minmei had noticed a long time ago that he seemed to delight in playing to the part of a careless, deranged grandfather. "Is there anything you need from me?" She said, not sure of exactly what would be expected of her in these new circumstances.

Lieutenant Doyle picked a clipboard out of the clutter on his desk and thumbed through the data. "You haven't worked in a while, but you seem to be in better shape since your kids were born. So, for starters, I'll need your measurements, height, weight and shoe size so we can get your wardrobe together."

"That's all?" She said hopefully.

"No, but I can fill out the rest myself." He picked up a pen and jotted down the rest of the lines in the form, "Original hair color: pink. Past experience: none. Age: fifteen. Racial ethnicity..." He looked at her for a moment. "Spanish or something."

Minmei shrugged. "Close enough. Anything else I can help you with?"

"First of all, don't wear your uniform around here unless the Captain's around. I don't mind it myself, but Clem thinks the uniform cramps his style, and since he's the god of the mixing board, his word is law."

"No uniforms? What am I supposed to wear?"

Doyle looked her over briefly. "Wear something sexy, turn a few heads, you know? With legs like yours you should wear more skirts, and you've got very nice tits so it might help to show some cleavage... a pushup bra can help you with that. And nothing shoulder padded, the hour-glass figure shows off your curves, it'll raise big bugs at the album sales. You never got to do that in the musicals, right?"

Now there was a part of her old director that never changed. She wondered if it was a side-effect of being in the director's chair for too long, or perhaps if he was simply born without tact. "I'll think about it, but remember, I've got two kids."

"That's true, you might not wanna traumatize the little tikes..." He looked her over one more time and sat up in his desk. "Where's your suite?"

"A-Deck, Level Three."

"Address?"

"315 Anderson street, Apartment-D"

"Oh, you live across the hall from Captain Elensh." Doyle said passively.

Minmei's heart skipped a beat. "Are you serious?"

"Yup. She picked that spot closest to the command towers and the number-3 fighter bays, her favorite two places in the universe besides the boxing ring on Level-2. Man am I glad I'm not _you_!"

"That's really good to know..." Minmei felt uncomfortable about all this, knowing Imura to a limited extent and not quite sure how the woman would react to her presence there. She knew she was being alittle too critical of the woman, after all Millia Jenius had been a warm and gentle person anywhere but inside a variable fighter, but something about Imura made her very uncomfortable. "Why do you ask anyway? You planning to ask me out or something?"

"Yes I am. Pick you up at 8:00?"

"Nope."

"How about 9:00?"

"Nope."

"Okay, 9:30."

"Nope."

Doyle pouted, "Is there someone else?"

Minmei grinned, playing his own game as she had learned to do. "It's not that, I'm just out of your league."

"Well you're right about that..." Doyle said, considering it seriously for a few moments, then adding, "Will you marry me?"

"No."

"Shoot... Anyway, listen, there's this tailor shop down the street from you on A-Deck that makes most of our wardrobe. They heard you were coming, so we put in an order to the supply corp. for some fabrics, cotton, polyester, and some genuine Chinese silk. Go right on down there, tell em Doyle sent ya, and they'll custom fit your dress just for you."

Minmei was impressed. There were certainly more shortsighted producers out there than this man, and she had been related to one of them. "When? Right now?"

"The sooner the better. The rest of the band's hanging out in the Starlight room doing... well pretty much just moping around like the pot-smoking retards they are, so you might as well go get acquainted with them."

"Okay, thanks."

"But don't be surprised if they don't warm up to you right away. Our last lead singer got caught in the outer decks when the ship took a reaction missile. The radiation fried her like a chicken. Good an crispy."

"Thanks, Boss, that's a great load off my mind." Minmei brushed the image out of her mind and decided it was best to just head home now. "I'll be back later."

—August 2, 2018—  
—13:41 GST—  
"Sekkai, I have been patient with you and I've put up with your bullshit, but this time you went too far! It's time I made it perfectly clear that there is only one ranking officer in this fleet and you are not it!"

Sekkai shifted her weight awkwardly in the briefing room, not really sure what kind of response she could give that wouldn't make Imura even more angry with her. "Captain, I was under the impression that we would cooperate in managing the use of the destroyer in combat…"

"And just where the hell did you get _that_ idea!" Imura exploded up from her chair, almost leaping over the desk to strangle her. "You have no experience with military tactics of any kind other than what you've read in comic books! You may have been able to squeak by on your little ARMD carriers, but out here every decision you make affects tens of thousands of my soldiers! This latest embarrassment is all the reason I need to have your ass mailed back to Gallaron in a box!"

"But…"

"Zjendiel is _not_ a dreadnaught, not matter how much you want it to be! Where in the hell did you get the bright idea to try and take on seven enemy destroyers by yourself!"

"What do you want from me?" Sekkai said defensively. "We destroyed all of the enemy ships and we intercepted their reentry capsules…"

"At the cost of over two hundred crewmen and a hundred and fifty pilots who died trying to cover your ass! Our entire battle plan almost went up in smoke this morning because _you_ decided to play hero and go charging the enemy lines, totally blowing our surprise attack! Did you even _think_ about that!"

Sekkai suddenly felt small and cornered, and at last the disconnected exterior gave way to an emotional response. "I don't have to take this from a Zentradi! You're a soldier, you have to obey the commands of your government just as your soldiers have to obey you! The council doesn't want it's fleets running amok out here without someone supervising them and nothing is going to change that!"

Imura immediately saw the inherent dishonesty in that logic. The only reason Sekkai was here was because the council didn't entrust their prized possession to a Queadlunn-Rau pilot. "You just can't let go of your father's pet project can you?"

"That has nothing to do with..."

"Fine then." Imura took a breath and walked around the desk, stopping directly in front of Sekkai and towering over her like a giant once again. "You will remain on the Victory until Zjendiel's cannons are repaired, at which point you will return to your ship and you will be confined to quarters until further notice."

Sekkai knew it was pointless to argue, Imura was pulling both rank and her virtually overwhelming physical superiority. "That reaction missile did alot of damage. It could take another three or four _days_ to fix it!"

"Then I suggest you go into town and find yourself a good book."

"Captain Elensh, don't you care about anything other than rules and regulations! My ship single handedly...!"

"Sekkai," Imura's intensity was completely gone, fading into somber authority, "You're proceeding from a very dangerous misconception. The people who come out here trying to become heroes never live long enough to enjoy it. It would be different if you were some hotshot Valkyrie ace looking for your double-ace, but you are in command of an eight hundred thousand ton mobile gun platform that is also home to sixteen hundred people. You _cannot_ afford to be reckless."

Sekkai stared a moment, then turned and stormed out of the office angrily.

Imura waited until she was well out of the door and down the hall before moving on to her next order of business, tapping the intercom button to the command bridge. "We're ready Mia, send in our guests." She didn't have to wait long; the door to the Captain's office opened a few seconds later and two men and a woman in some strange types of flight suits entered the office single file. "Welcome aboard." She said as friendly as she could. "I am Captain Imura Elensh, I'm in charge of this battle fleet."

The first of the three stepped forward and held out his hand. "Commander Ulyn Zaky, Parankazu 17th division. It's a pleasure to meet you in person."

"Likewise." Imura shook his hand timidly, making an effort not to let any of these three people out of her field of vision. "I was impressed with the design of your fighters. They seem unusually powerful for such small craft."

"What do you expect? My people only have a few capital ships like this one, we've been fighting the... Supervision Army, as you call them, with these fighters for over fifty years. It's only in the last eight months or so that we've started to have so much trouble with them."

Imura could understand that. There were thousands of Zentradi ships still roving around in the Arturo sector with no affiliation to anyone, and somehow it didn't surprise her that someone else had been disturbed by all this ruckus. "You've been very helpful as of late, your fighter units have started supporting us in more and more battles and we're grateful." Imura gave him the most genuine smile she could arrange before getting back to business. "The reason for this meeting is to discuss some kind of lasting arrangement, a formal alliance of some sort so we can continue to count on each other's help. We're currently undertaking a major operation to attack a large enemy stronghold that should cripple their fighting strength and buy us some time to build up our own fleet."

"I see... well it would be best if we could set something up formally with your central government when we arrive on your home world, but I gather that you want us to actively support your offensive in the long term?"

Imura nodded. "We need all the help we can get."

Commander Zaky shifted his weight awkwardly. "We would like to give your people more tactical support, in fact we recognize that we very much need to, but we've encountered a bit of a defensive dilemma. It seems another one of your allies, a Zentradi group known as the Botoru main fleet has been attacking our outer colonies trying to obtain reactive weapons for use against the Supervision Army. We'd be happy to share the technology with them but…"

"You're sure it's the Botoru fleet? None of the others?"

"That's what they told us, anyway. They're a wild bunch, even for Zentradi. The worst of the lot is a female named Tiamat."

Imura raised a brow. "A _Meltran_? That sounds like real trouble."

"You have no idea. We've lost four squadrons in the past month in skirmishes trying to defend missiles silos on our outer markers. We've managed to repel their attacks without too much difficulty, but her tactics are so random and chaotic that it's tying up a great deal of our resources just securing our own borders."

Imura nodded. "We will speak to the Botoru fleet on your behalf. Unlike most Zentradi groups, about half of them are female so I'm sure we can come to a sensible arrangement."

Commander Zaky seemed satisfied, but spoke up again before leaving. "One other thing... based on the size and strength of your war fleet it's obvious to us that your manufacturing abilities _greatly_ surpass ours, at least when it comes to building large things like capital. My government has asked me extend an offer to you, if we ever do open some formal arrangements."

"I'm listening," Imura said.

"We will give you access to a sample of our Di'maku heavy fighters and any design notes you may require for the purpose of mass producing the units in larger numbers... or perhaps even building more advanced models based on your _own_ technology. In exchange, we would like to recruit some of your production base to help us build up and eventually modernize our own military forces. Sort of a joint-economic defense agreement. How does this sound?"

"It sounds like a wonderful idea. You would, of course, have to speak to the Elders Council about it when you reach Gallaron, but I'm sure they'd go for it. Anyway, you're busy man Commander and I won't keep you any longer. I'll be in touch."

"Thank you, Captain." Commander Zaky saluted and stepped back out of the office just as he came in, and once the door was closed Imura went back behind the desk and switched on the microphones in the hallway. "She seemed pretty lively to me." Zaky was saying. "Your Korudmo says the Zentradi are neutral warriors without souls... I'm no expert, but I'd say the Korudmo was wrong."

"You're an atheist, I'd expect you to think so," Said the woman of the group, keeping a few steps ahead of them. "But you're right, none of it makes sense. Even Tiamat's got more personality than she's supposed to. If the Zentradi really had that much in common with them, they'd all be zombies just like the Demons. That woman standing in there..."

"It's creepy isn't it?" Anther one said. "If you didn't know better she could almost pass for human..."

Imura clicked off the microphones, satisfied by now with her guests. "I guess Zentradi no longer have the franchise on culture shock."

—August 3, 2018—  
—06:30 GST—  
If you passed through Morska-Delcaan at any time during day or night, there was a one-in-six chance you would see a major fleet battle. Not just here either, the same was happening all over the exterior edge of the Arturo sector, with the quarter of a million ships of the 182nd Botoru fleet battling half as many Supervision warships in a battle front extending over twenty parsecs. The Supervision ships, armed with reactive weapons of their own, were doing their own fair share of damage against the Zentradi army, but as always the Zentradi could count on their overwhelming numerical superiority and superior resources to come out on top. Not being able to repair their ships on the fly was taking its toll on some of the front line divisions, but Commandant Gyzol had never once challenged the ancient battle doctrine. The automated facilities in his command fortress could build new ships or repair some of the simple damages of the older ones.

Gyzol's fortress was never far from the front line; no weapon known to the Zentradi could destroy such a behemoth in a single mounted attack, even the largest reaction weapons would only blow chunks off the surface. The Commandant was watching the entire ordeal on his monitors when one of his subordinates contacted his command bubble from the lower decks. "Incoming signal, Lord Gyzol. IFF code matches SDF-05."

"General Shikari." He said, recognizing the ship. It had been several weeks since she last contacted him about an update, but every time she contacted him it was always something important. "Put it through."

The monitor clicked on and the feral, vicious looking meltran warlord appeared on the monitor. There were flashes of light around her that Gyzol knew were lights from battle, but based on his last meetings with Shikari he knew the only reason she would bother making contact in the middle of a firefight was if she didn't have a choice. This, he realized, must have been important. "Calling Gyzol, 182nd Botoru fleet."

"We're receiving, Shikari. You have news?"

"And requests." She stooped just a bit from an impact somewhere on the ship. "We have no confirmed that the enemy is setting up a major base of operations near our headquarters and may attack us soon. We're mobilizing a sneak attack to take them off balance, but by our best estimates we don't have enough firepower to have an effect."

Gyzol looked at the other monitor again, watching dozens of reaction warheads exploding in the faces of his own warriors. The enemy fleet involved in this battle before him was already on the run and had lost thousands of ships already, but he was finding that each of these skirmishes came at a higher and higher price to his army. "We can't spare anything right now. The enemy base is a valuable target. Truly, it's a rare occasion that the enemy even BUILDS bases, but in order to draw their fire away from you I've had to commit everything I have to try and blitz their front lines across half the sector. Two other Zentradi fleets have joined us but we've already paid a high price for this diversion. I've lost 24 of my task force, and your battle here is quickly becoming more trouble than it's worth…"

"Which brings me to my second point. We've had complaints from some of our allies about a meltrandi commander in your ranks known as Tiamat."

Gyzol already knew where this was going. "Tiamat's not one of mine. She commands one of the smaller fleets that joined forces with us a few months ago. Apparently they once belonged to the 127th Glexura fleet from one of the Magellanic clusters. They went awol for some reason and they've been wandering the galaxy ever since. It's about an even mix, male and female ships, but they basically do whatever they want whenever they want. I can't even get in touch with them half the time."

Shikari frowned. "This could be a problem, but that's a matter for another day. Actually, I sent this message because our government has finally approved the transaction we discussed earlier this year."

Gyzol took a step forward. "The reactive weapons you mean?"

"We've finally managed to get a transport convoy past the Supervision Army blockade. It should be arriving there within the next twelve hours. Unfortunately we didn't have time to fashion weapons for you, but the shipment includes reactant mass needed to build such warheads and a few specialists that can teach your computers how to manufacture them."

Gyzol's mouth started to water. "In that case, I think we might be able to arrange something after all. Assuming the main force can't simply push through the enemy lines to join the attack, you can count on an advanced fleet arriving in your area to join the attack. Exactly how much support we can give you really depends on how effective your weapons are against the enemy."

Shikari smiled. "The enemy is very adept at defending against nuclear attacks, but when used properly they can be VERY effective. I look forward to seeing your ships at Kaladan."

Gyzol returned the smile with a hint of anticipation. "Don't go getting yourself killed before I can take the credit for your victories."

"Oh, you'd love that one wouldn't you?" Shikari said mischievously. "Just make sure you pick up that convoy. Getting past that blockade was certainly no easy task for their captain."

"Of course. You have my gratitude, General."

—07:40 GST—  
Bennet had been waiting for this. He had been clenching his fists in anticipation for the reversal of decision that he knew would follow the discovery of Vorhalas. With the weapons they had already found below the surface, everyone knew the Zentradi fleet harassing them would soon be a distant memory. The equipment they had captured had repaired the construction equipment damaged by SDF-102's raid during the battle of Soccoro-Delcaan, but aside from that there were also the six fold weapons they had recovered from a storage facility far beneath the largest city, the dry docks across the planet containing several thousand ships of older but still very powerful designs, and then there was always the unfinished hull of the battleship lying half submerged in one of the oceans offshore of the eastern continent. Bennet watched the buildup on Vorhalas eagerly, the rising of bases and gun outposts, the installment of missile batteries and restoration of new shipyards, and even as Lacul's command fortress folded into orbit of the planet he watched the defense forces rip the Gallaron scout ships from the 6th fleet to pieces. And now his time had come.

He didn't quite know why Lacul had summoned him here, but he knew it would be good news. He had done everything right so far, this was sure to be a reward for his vigilance in the performance of his duties. Once called, he quickly arrived in the great chamber of the giant of giants and stood at attention on the catwalk next to Kraken's seat. "Admiral Bennet, reporting Lord." He said solemnly.

Lacul leaned back in his gigantic chair and yawned. "I've been growing increasingly dissatisfied with your work Bennet." He said boredly. "You've been passive, obedient, receptive, I'd even go so far as to call you demure."

He sagged a few inches, slightly embarrassed. "If my work displeases you..."

"Bennet, you do know the reason Lazuli still holds her current position don't you? Even being one of the oldest of the warlords here?"

Bennet shook his head. "I assumed her performance..."

"She follows orders perfectly, she always does what she's told and never deviates from standard tactical guidelines. In this way, she's really not much good to me."

"I don't understand."

Lacul leaned forward slightly, his massive hulk actually compressing the air around him and washing Bennet with a sudden gale of wind. "The reason I control your mind so loosely is because I recognized a long time ago that the normal soldiers are poor tacticians. Their brains lack such properties as creativity and intuition, and I needed someone who would obey my goals but still have their personalities intact. The others, Sarride and Sarron, Lazuli, Kong, Anubas and Osar, none of them are as well preserved as you are, because your mind already had the kind of ambition I was looking for. Do you understand Bennet?"

Bennet nodded. "You chose me because you needed someone who... who could..."

"I chose you because you need the least encouragement to excel in what you do. Your recent work has bored me, you haven't killed anything in almost half a year. Now that our position has been fortified and will soon become impregnable, I will correct that mistake on my part." Bennet smiled widely as Lacul put up a graphic on the monitor. "The protoculture is mobilizing their ships for a major offensive. There's not many of them, but they are quite troublesome in such small groups. We have the advantage in large-scale fleet actions, but Lazuli has somehow allowed the enemy to sneak past our patrols and open communications with the Zentradi forces on the Bokata front. They may be trying to arm the Zentradi with reaction weapons, and if that is the case, Gallaron will had found a way to circumvent our numerical advantage."

Bennet understood. "Then it really comes down to picking a focal point, doesn't it?"

Lacul smiled. It was as if Bennet was reading his mind, or else the little man was some kind of copy of himself. "We have two options available to us. The first, most obviously, is to destroy the Gallaron fleet before they get to us and cause trouble. Without them, the Zentradi forces will loose a valuable ally and we will be able to capture Gallaron and her factories."

Bennet shook his head. "Too long term. I have no doubt that the Zentradi will attack Vorhalas in cooperation with Gallaron. If we try to intercept the GSDF before they arrive, they will simply evade our attacks as a delaying tactic."

Lacul smiled wider. "Then the second option is self evident."

"Destroy the Zentradi." Bennet said. "And I think you'll find that option to be quite a bit easier, but it will still be no small task. I'll need many ships, and I'll need Kong's expertise with guerilla warfare."

Lacul was boundlessly amused. "You've already thought this through haven't you? What little scheme are you dreaming up in they microscopic brain of yours?"

"With your permission, I would like to undertake this operation myself. For its success, I will be needing four of the fold weapons we captured and a class-three strike fleet."

Lacul stopped smiling. "_Four_ fold weapons? Using our trump cards already?"

Bennet stood up straighter. "If this works out the way I intend it, we'll be in full control of Gallaron by the end of the year. I can remove the Zentradi threat completely in just one attack, but it will have to be perfect in order to work. I'll need to find the right star system, and I'll need time to lure the enemy fleet into an ambush."

Lacul smiled again. "Your people single handedly defeated Bodolza, so for now I'll trust your judgment. I suggest you deploy immediately and start making preparations."

Bennet's stomach twisted in a knot. This, above all, would be his finest hour. "Yes My Lord! Just you watch, the Zentradi will never know what hit them!"

—12:10 GST—  
Minmei opened the door to the broadcast dome on the top of the command tower and walked faced first into a bombardment of an angry voice berating someone for some offense she could not be sure. The room was extremely large; the only door into the room was set between two metal platforms, in front of which was a larger floor lined with holographic imaging/projection panels. The entire dome was enclosed in Plexiglas, polarized against radiation and hardened against impacts or other stress the ship might encounter.

The arguing was coming from a wild-looking woman in black clothing, rainbow-colored hair down to to her shoulder blades in black clothes decorated with metal chains. Minmei recognized the two people her argument was directed against; a Zentradi vocalist dressed in a long black overcoat, and the woman behind him in a micron-sized traditional Meltrandi flight suit with an electric guitar in her hands. _Zombie Zentradi's Ash and Enki,_ she thought, recognizing them from their posters. She had never worked with them before in person, but she had seen them perform on stage countless times without having the privilege to introduce herself. Their kind of music was far from her style, but as the galaxy's first official Zentradi rock group, they had her admiration and respect.

But the shouting woman in the center of the room did not seem to share that sentiment, "Why even pretend! You pod-born genetic freaks got nothin to contribute to anything, you oughta just go out and find some babies to eat or whatever it is you do!"

The two Zentradi exchanged a short glance, then Ash retorted ominously, "What's wrong with that? Babies are _very_ tasty."

Enki nodded in agreement. "Oh, yeah. It's like the most tender side of BBQ pork you'll ever have. Once you've had baby, you might go crazy."

The angry woman seemed to boil over with renewed rage, "Oh, you think that's funny, freak! You think that makes you civilized that you can joke about that! That's your whole culture, Zentradi don't know how to do anything but hate and kill innocent people! Everything about you... you make me _sick_!"

The other occupants of the room seemed bored by this display. Minmei found a man sitting on the edge of the stage with a sullen expression; he was a sight to behold, a tall man covered in an array of jagged scars as if from a thousand and one consecutive knife fights. He greeted her with a nod as she approached and she sat down on the edge of the platform next to him, "What's going on?" She asked in a whisper.

"Gretta's always on about Zentradi. It's kinda stupid really."

Minmei could relate, in fact the young woman's ravings sounded uncomfortably familiar. "Are you with Starlight? I just transferred here."

The man extended one hand at the end of a gnarled arm, "I'm Larz, the keyboard guy. Do you have any music experience?"

Minmei smiled and shook his hand. "Some. My name is Lynn Minmei, I've, uh... been in the business awhile."

Larz smiled. "Oh, I've heard of you. Aren't you the dame who started that whole "get your hands dirty" thing?"

Her smile faded slightly, "Not on purpose."

Larz stood up from the platform and pointed around the room, "Well over there is Gretta... jack of all trades and master of none," He said to the angrily shouting woman, "And behind you is our Messiah, Lord Clem." Minmei turned around and almost jerked back in surprise. Clem was a massive individual, a black man almost eight feet tall with a barrel chest and shoulder-length dreadlocks. She couldn't see his eyes beneath his sunglasses, but somehow she had the strangest feeling that he was staring right at her.

"H-Hi, I'm... I'm Minmei."

Clem nodded a slow greeting, and turned his attention back to watching Gretta's continued outburst.

"He doesn't talk much, but when he does you be sure to listen." Larz said, moving on to the other stage platform, "And over here we have Amon," A younger man was slumped over a drum set, fast asleep with a peace sign tattooed on his right shoulder, "Amon is a part-time pacifist."

"Part time?"

"Yeah, whenever he isn't stoned out of his mind—which isn't often—he's got a _really_ bad temper." Larz guided Minmei over to the where the verbal combat was taking place.

"Seven billion people!" Gretta was saying, still shouting with no sign of relenting, "What does that mean to you? Men women and children! And you Zentradi did it without even hesitating!"

"Well gee, I guess I owe you an apology then, huh?" Ash said, the dry sarcasm painted on his voice, "Seeing how I personally killed seven billion people with my own two hands. Boy, what a hard days work _that_ was!"

"That's all you do is joke about it, don't you? How Zentradi of you!"

"We aim to please," Enki said with a smirk.

"And what did you do to _please_ the Supervision Army? Why don't you just tell the truth, so GSDF will stop protecting you?"

"Truth?" Larz said, jumping into the conversation, "Do we have a new conspiracy theory, Gretta?"

"It's not a theory, it's a fact! The only reason the Supervision Army fight us is because there's Zentradi with us! If we kicked all the Zentradi out of Gallaron they'd totally leave us alone!"

"That's not true," Minmei said suddenly, "Where do you get such a silly idea like that?"

"It's not silly! Remember that raid on Gallaron last year? Did you know the Supervision troops that landed in Gallaron city only shot at Zentrans and Meltrans! The only humans they got hit were killed in a crossfire—"

"Pris was human," Minmei cut her off, her voice cut the air like a knife, "She was fifteen years old. One of their riflemen shot her in the head as she was carrying my son to safety. And as for me... I was shot nine times by enemy troops before they left us alone. Do I look Zentradi to any of you?"

All of them stared at Minmei, then back at Gretta for a possible rebuttal. She shifted her weight slightly and then blurted out, "There was probably a Zentran standing behind you that you didn't—"

"It's impossible to take people like you seriously, Gretta." Ash said, staring her down, "And kid, let me tell you, I was rockin the Supervision Army for fifteen years before the Miclones taught me how to rock worlds! I've _forgotten_ more about them then you'll ever know!"

"All you know is how to murder innocent people, Zentran! I can't even stomach how they let you on this ship, you make us a target for the Supervision Army! Don't you know, they would have come to us in peace if we didn't try to protect the damn Zentran all the time—"

"Little girl, you are a _riot_." Ash turned and started for the door, but on the way out he seemed to notice Minmei standing there. He leaned close to her, hovering his face just an inch away from her, and before she could react, sniffed her like a dog. She stared at him for a long moment, unsure what to do or even say as he turned again and headed back towards the door.

Enki gave him a head start before following, turning to Minmei on the way out, "That's just how he greets people. Don't take it personal."

"I guess I won't," She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "Hi, I'm Minmei. I just transferred here..."

"Yeah, I know who you are. You've been a huge inspiration for me." With a charming smile, she reached out and shook Minmei's hand, "I'm Enki Tanlil. Welcome to the Victory."

Gretta's rainbow hair seemed to turn ashen white, "Minmei? As in _Lynn_ Minmei!"

Enki laughed and followed Ash out of the room, leaving the remainder of Starlight band to settle their grievance.

Minmei put her hand on Gretta's shoulder, "How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"Then you must be too young to remember."

Gretta looked puzzled. "Remember what?"

"The Zentradi that came to our aid at the final battle, when Bodolza's fleet destroyed Earth. If they hadn't been there we wouldn't be alive today."

Gretta shook her head violently. "I don't expect you to understand... you remember when they boarded us? The battlepods marching all over the ship... they murdered my parents right in front of me!"

"I was there Gretta, I remember. That's in the past."

"But you didn't—"

"That's in the _past_." Minmei said again, "What do you want from them, anyway? Are we still at war with the Bodolza? Did they not surrender, was that all an illusion?" Minmei's hand gripped her shoulder tighter, "I don't expect you to listen to me at all, but how _dare_ you go around judging people just because of how they were born! Humans are capable of perfectly horrible things too, and I don't see you shouting at _them_!"

Gretta and Minmei exchanged one very long look, one filled with acid and lined with bitterness towards each other and what each represented. Larz watched it all from the side, shaking his head in disappointment. "Well, it looks like we're all going to get along just fine."

—29:50 GST—  
Culture shock wasn't the only rude awakening for Yulin Zaky and his small crew of the Parankazu assault ship. Part of him realized this was intentional, a political ploy to shape his opinions and perceptions that he would eventually carry back to the royal family of Suran when he presented his report. Doctor Varcus had personally given them their flight path when they arrived in Gallaron space, a winding semi-circular orbit that seemed unnecessarily scenic.

The first leg of the approach had taken them within four thousand kilometers of Alpha Factory, and yet even from that distance the bulk of the massive space station eclipsed the sun for seven minutes before they passed out of its shadow. Hundreds of space craft large and small were berthed to dry docks and ports along its outer skin, some receiving minor repairs, others being reloaded with fresh ammunition. One or two were gutted hulls with emergency crews swarming over the wreckage; Zaky guessed that there had been an attack here recently, probably one of thousands of small-scale raids probing the planet's defenses.

Gallaron itself was even more impressive. The short flight over the terrain after re-entry had given him a false first impression. For a hundred miles the only thing he could see was trees—humongous trees the size of sky scrapers built up in forests ten or twenty miles across. Most of the planet was covered by grasslands prairies, but the forests here were a site to behold. Flying along for a bit more, Zaky noticed that most of the forests were rimmed by a dense collection of small stone and wooden houses of remarkably artistic workmanship (had he come from Earth, he might easily have mistaken this for a Japanese colony). Then the realization struck him like a thunderbolt as they passed over one of the sparser canopies of the giant trees: the forests _were_ the cities. Each one of these trees had become the scaffold of a massive wooden building that wrapped around the trunk and climbed hundreds of feet in the air like a second bark. Every tree in every forest was host to one of these tube-buildings, and in some part of his mind Zaky realized that the inhabitants themselves had been responsible for the massive size of their forests.

Protocrans didn't build cities. They _grew_ them.

At least until recently, as was evident once the assault ship began its final descent on the spaceport section of Megaroad City. He was actually a little surprised to see it at first. The city closely resembled some of the ancient ruins in Suran, but unlike the rubble he had seen from the air on his world, this city was a thriving metropolis that was home to just short of a million people. Fifteen kilometers across, the city was laid out in concentric circles that became increasingly denser and more built up with taller and more modern looking buildings the closer they got to the central hub, which was an uncommonly high-tech two kilometer dot on the face of this world. Imura had called this place "Megaroad Central," the traffic controller's in Varcus' office had called it "Megaroad New City." Whatever one choose to call it, this portion of Gallaron's capital city with its steel and plastic sky scrapers and high rise apartment buildings was quite obviously the contribution of Megaroad-01.

The spaceport zone lay on the outskirts of the city where the outermost rings broke their circular pattern and conformed to the shoreline of a massive lake. There was an airfield here too, and Zaky counted almost a dozen hangars packed full of variable fighters lined up near an airfield across from a row of berths occupied by a half dozen ARMD-class escort carriers bobbing peacefully in the water. Paradoxically, Megaroad City was considered the capital of the Republic of Gallaron despite the fact that its central government was seated elsewhere, a city called Otanipsun in one of the forest zones ten kilometers to the south. When Zaky's ship landed, an armored car and an escort of marines arrived to carry them on the last leg of their trip.

Once again, they took the scenic route, but this time there was nothing here that really surprised him. Megaroad City wasn't all that different from one of Suran's cities, but the alien culture that permeated it wasn't surprising either. More and more he came to realize that Gallaron and Suran wouldn't have too many ideological differences, just from the look of things—but then he passed something that made his hair stand on end.

A nude woman was standing in a grassy park area with her arms held out in front of her as if expecting to catch something falling out of the sky. There was something sticking out of the ground in front of her, a wooden stake about waist high that seemed simultaneously ancient and high-tech. There was a small crowd around her, protocrans, terrans and Zentran, singing a song in a language he didn't recognize. The driver of the armored car saw it as well, and actually slowed down to make sure his guests could see it. Zaky and his crew watched, first in confusion, then in growing wonder as a tiny light appeared between her hands, growing in size and intensity until it expanded to swallow the woman in a five meter orb of light. It hung there for a moment or so, then snapped out of its round shape and began twisting rapidly and chaotically around her in bizarre shapes like an aurora gone mad. The crowd around here grew even more excited, and the tempo of the song sped up—as they did, the swirling lights intensified, even began to converge on the woman in the center who by now had begun to throw herself around in the middle of it as if imitating the luminous madness around her. And in the last moments before Zaky's driver moved on, some of the light congealed into a column around her, seemed to become solid until it her feet left the ground and lifted her nearly ten feet into the air. And still the dance went on, and the tempo of the song picked up its pace.

Zaky leaned over the man's shoulder in the driver's seat, speaking so quickly his translator circuit barely managed to spit out the words, "What the hell was that?"

The driver looked over his shoulder and grinned, "I figured you'd get a kick out of that. It's an ancient Protocran tradition, used in healing rituals and can also be used to power certain mechanical devices. They call it light dancing."

Zaky's navigator furrowed his brow, "As in making light dance or dancing with light?"

"A little of both, really. It's a practice from an old religion that nobody believes in anymore, but it's so ingrained in the culture that they keep it alive almost as an art form. That particular dancer is a priestess in training, sort of an amateur, but it looks like she's been practicing."

Zaky whistled in amazement, "I can't even imagine what the professionals look like."

Again, the driver grinned, "Let me put it this way: at the Festival of Lights, this kind of thing takes up an entire stadium."

Twenty minutes later, Zaky and his crew were standing on the 17th floor of a white building coiled around a tree four hundred meters high with fruits the size of cars. Zaky understood this was called a Kyshu tree, and the enormous fruits growing on its branches could be fermented to created a form of Zentradi liquor known as Kyshien. So it didn't surprise him much when, upon entering the chamber of the Elder's Council, Zaky was handed a wicker basket containing four bottles of Kyshien and a yellow chopped cylinder of something the security guard called "cheese." The council chamber itself was well lit, comfortable temperature, with a relaxingly subtle scent of pinewood hanging in the air—probably artificial, he reasoned. It was a circular room with three rows of seats wrapped around an open space with a table in the center. Most of the people here were female, but one section of the chamber with raised desks and a lectern in the center was occupied mostly by males. Zaky guessed, correctly, that this section was reserved for the highest ranking council members.

Just from the look of them, rank was assigned by criterion of age.

The oldest of the council members stood up as the four of them entered the room and greeted them with a clumsy approximation of a Parankazu salute. "Gentlemen: welcome to Gallaron," He said, somehow in perfect Tarsic without even the need of a translator.

Zaky tried not to look surprised, or embarrassed at the fact that the Council had one-upped him on the language department. He relied on his translator to answer, "Thank you sir. It's good to be here."

"I am Dumokai Verten," the oldest said, transitioning this time to somewhat accented Zentradi, "High Elder of the Council. On behalf of all of our people, it is my sincerest hope that..."

"I'm a military man, Dumokai, not a diplomat." Zaky said in Zentradi—and part of him realized that his accent probably rubbed Verten a little funny, assuming the man was fluent, "Our purpose here is not to exchange political well wishes or platitudes. There's a war going on and thousands of our people are dying every day. We are here to see if we can help each other."

Verten seemed annoyed, but one of the female council members off to the side gestured for him to take his seat and rose slightly to get his attention. Zaky could tell just from looking that she was a Terran. "I'm Dumo Khaled, the military/economic liaison standing in for Dumo Sekkai during her deployment," and she smiled, "You'll be getting to know _her_ fairly well in the future. Anyhow, I was forwarded a summary of your requests from Captain Elensh this morning. You said you wanted use of our factory satellites?"

Zaky nodded. It was comforting to finally get to the business end of this trip. "We were attacked by the Supervision Army by--on your calendar would be the year 1875. It was a war that lasted seven years, and we finally drove them off our world and even managed to chase them out of our solar system. The Parankazu was formed in the flames of the war, an international military complex that as of twenty years ago is the official armed forces of our world. The Supervision Army resurfaced and attacked us again about thirty years later and began attacking our colonies sporadically after that, then a Zentradi squadron some time later mistook us for hostile forces and attacked as well. We've been using high speed, fold-capable strike craft against both of them ever since, but in your year 1996 or 97 we captured several Supervision Army cruisers and converted them into battleships for our own defenses. Six more are still undergoing reconstruction, and one is scheduled for deployment later this year. This after twenty years of work on captured space craft--is you can guess, our manufacturing abilities don't even compare to yours."

Khaled's expression suggested this was all very familiar to her. "I gather your people were technologically more advanced than hours in your first contact situation, but we were in a similar position on Earth about ten years ago. We had captured a single Supervision Army warship and converted it into a battleship called the Macross, supported by a few hundred much smaller vessels of our design. It didn't do us much good when the Zentradi decided to exterminate us to avoid cultural contamination."

"In that sense, we got lucky," Zaky said, "The Bodolza fleet never did locate our home planet. They carpet bombed one of our colonies after an entire division of their soldiers joined forces with us. That was sixty years ago, so it's safe to assume he never bothered looking for us before your people somehow eliminated him.."

"Then you understand, just as we do now, the need for a military force that can take them head-to-head."

Zaky nodded gravely, "As a matter of fact, I do."

Khaled turned to Verten at the head of the lectern with a gentle smile, "Dumokai, we're not communists, are we? Surely we can sell them some space on Alpha Factory with a small discount?"

"It's better for those resources to be controlled by people who know how to use them," Verten said, slightly agitated, "On the other hand, I'm inclined to trust that Doctor Varcus's technical department would be able to get them up to speed before long."

Another of the council members, this one a Protocran woman, said from the opposite end of the chamber, "The reliance on automation is keeping war costs down, but the factory facilities themselves still need to be repaired and serviced from time to time. With the amount of space in Alpha and Omega Factories, it'll be a few more decades before the repairs are completed."

Khaled smiled, realizing the suggestion as it came, "How's your home economy, Commander? Unemployment problems?"

"Not that I know of..." Zaky's navigator gave him a sharp jab in the ribs with his elbow, at once jogging his memory, "Ow... oh, um... there is a class of individuals in our eastern hemisphere that has had alot of employment difficulties. They're... well, little more than anti-unification malcontents. Their primary concern was the loss of revenue for their local nations and provinces after centralized government brought the entire planet under the Suran Royal Family."

Khaled read between the lines. _Your corporations globalized and the little guy got screwed._ "This might be a golden opportunity for you to be more inclusive of your citizens who—well, didn't stand to gain much from one-world-government."

Zaky felt as if he had just been caught with his hand in a cookie jar. "I should warn you," he said carefully, "About a third of those malcontents are impoverised Zentradi."

"I don't see a problem with that," Dumo Silen, one of the women nearest the central desks said, "Do you, Dumokai?"

Verten looked at her quizzically, then shrugged, "My personal opinion is not important."

Silen, and everyone else in the room, took it as agreement under protest, "Poverty is the same no matter who it afflicts," Silen said, and added with a smile, "The wealth of our Republic is measured by the value of the things it controls. If your workers are willing to contribute to the defense and safety of both of our nations, you can assure them that they will be well paid for it."

Zaky turned to his crew and searched their faces. This was about as political as it ever got with him; of the four man crew, he was the only one of them who had actually grown up in Suran proper. All of the others had come from all over his world, children of farmers, factory workers, nomads. All of them gave their approval, and Zaky passed it on to the council members with a simple word, "Then I believe we have an alliance."


	15. Chapter 14: Talk is Cheep

****

Chapter 14: Talk is Cheep

—August 18, 2018—  
—05:18 GST—  
Skull Squadron was in the front of the wave, leading the counter attack of VF-4 Lightings and VF-1F Electric Valkyries against the incoming wave of enemy fighters and battlepods. The enemy formation was lead by a squadron of variable powered armors and was much more numerous; Colonel Ichijo's attack wing was a hundred planes strong, the enemy mecha had closer to five hundred of various types. Beyond them was a fleet of Supervision warships much larger than the intelligence reports suggested. Just locating them to attack had been a problem, but so far most if not all of the factors of Admiral Hayase's big counter attack had either changed or vanished.

When he returned to the ship, Hikaru decided, he would put Misa over his knee. "Skull leader to Kappa, request target dope."

"Kappa to Strike Wing Cerberus, adjust course, three degrees port and fifteen down. You should be in engagement range in two minutes."

Hikaru checked his radar as soon as he was on course and confirmed it for himself. "The angle will be funny, but we can manage. All pilots, you know the plan: E-valks paint your targets and hang back once your weapons are deployed."

"Roger. Hades squadron in position." The first bomber leader reported, followed by the second and third in turns.

Hikaru looked over his shoulder at the missile laden E-valk fighters, each packed down with four nuclear mutli-warhead missiles. All of them locked into the enemy mecha at long range and clicked off their safeties. "Hades Flight, fire at will!" the leader shouted as her missiles burst from their hardpoints towards the enemy mecha. The other fighters in her squadron did the same, and the next wave moved forward and selected targets for a followup strike.

There would be a thirty second flight before the warheads impacted, but long before their time was up, Commander Gashi's voice exploded over the radio in a panic, "Kappa to all fighters! Enemy approaching from sector eighteen, closing on us rapidly! Dragon squadron is no longer responding, all fighters return to ship!"

Hikaru growled in anger, even as the multi-heads split into their separate rockets and exploded amidst the enemy mecha. The spearhead of enemy fighters were smashed to bits by the blast from the missiles, but Skull Squadron would never get a chance to finish them off. "It's a trap! All pilots, fall back to the Monitor! E-Valks, go full afterburner and standby for close combat! We're gonna try and get you guys re-armed for another sortie!" He reversed his course with one quick burst of verniers and powered back to the ship at full thrust, hundreds of now angry war machines hot on his tail. _This is perfect. How the hell did they sneak up on us like this!_

Misa was asking her the same question as the fleet skimmed barely a few kilometers above the gas giant's upper atmosphere. The enemy pods seemed to have come up from beneath the cloud layer, but at the speed they would have had to be moving they should have left con-trails behind them that would have been detectable. Somehow they managed to hide them, and now it was too late to counterattack; the entire fleet was caught in a swarm of enemies as overworked and overwhelmed fighter pilots and powered armors struggled to fight them off.

There was only one way out from here. "Gashi, time on target?"

"Coming up on the far side now, ten minutes to firing range! Once they rise over the third layer, we can open fire."

"I want the main gun charged and ready to fire as soon as we have a target!"_ If we live that long,_ she thought.There were more enemy fighters around them than stars in the sky, a much bigger threat than any enemy warships. The defense guns on the Monitor were destroying them dozens at a time, yet their numbers never seemed to diminish. But there was still a chance. Dozens of fighter squadrons from all the ships in the fleet would be returning to join the fight at any moment. "Kappa to Skull Squadron, what's your ETA? You better not be playing with their sentries out there!"

Hikaru was finally entering missile range of the enemy fighters and was already picking out targets for his computer. "We're almost there Admiral, don't get your panties in a wad!"

"I wouldn't be so bitchy if you'd get some of those fighters off my screen! Stop draggin your asses and get on with your job!"

"Well since you put it that way…" He locked onto the largest group closest to the ship and locked his missiles on from maximum range. He needed to clear the area in the next few minutes for the ship to safely fire the cannons, and he knew just how to pull that off. "Hades, what do you have left?"

"Wizard and Muskrat still have multi-warheads, the rest of us each have Stilettos and twenty Starbucks." The commander of the squadron wasn't far behind him, but the rest of her fighters and the other three E-Valks were splitting up in all directions. There were only three other fighters nearby, he would have to make due with that. "Hades Leader, Muskrat-3 and -4, Wizard -3, get on my wing in an echelon formation. Francis, Monty, on the rear."

All four fighters responded with impressive quickness, lining up behind his right wing in a half-v formation as they dove in. The enemy pods didn't even seem aware of his approach, but that was about to change. "Bomber pilots, it's on you."

"Roger. Bombs away..." The E-Valks behind him fired their multi-warhead missiles at the fighter group, this time from a much closer range. The wait wasn't long; only seconds later the massive looming hull of SDF-04 vanished behind a curtain of fire from, a score of separate nuclear explosions, sweeping way an entire group of enemy pods long before they knew what hit them.

"Nice shooting, E-Valks!" Hikaru said, hitting his afterburners to capitalize on the confusion. "This is Skull leader, that's our rallying point! Move into the gap and split em from there!"

"Hades Leader, now enga—" A burst of fire from three Glaug battlepod hit the fighter just aft of the cockpit and it was gone before the pilot had a chance to scream. Hikaru swerved around the cloud of expanding fragments, then lined up his first targets.

There were ten battlepods in front of him, modified Glaugs of the Supervision Army with dozens more moving into range behind him. He had no time to gripe. "Keep up with me!" he shouted warned as the battlepods opened fire. The missiles under his wing locked onto their targets and he fired six of the medium missiles in a spread, joined a moment later by the remaining bombers still in formation behind him. Enemy mecha fired wildly to defend against the missiles but all in vain; the medium warheads rippled in explosions among them, smashing the first of them to pieces. Almost immediately another group of enemy mecha came up around them, impact cannons and pulse lasers firing in a maddening barrage. Hikaru switched into gerwalk and cut his velocity, aimed the pulse lasers on both arms and returned fire even as he dodged the enemy guns. Skull-3 and -5 did the same, as did the E-Valks behind him transform and lay out a long burst with their gunpods.

"Son of a bitch! There's so many of them!"

Four more fighters appeared at his back and he turned to engage just in time to avoid their missiles. "Kappa, how much longer!"

"We need thirty more seconds..." Commander Gashi watched the deadly dance playing out over SDF-04's hull, noticing Hikaru was in a much tighter spot than he probably realized. There was an entire division of battlepods and fighters closing in around him, but the distraction was more than a welcome one. "Skull Zero, try and lure them in front of the main cannon! Hurry now, we're almost ready to fire!"

Hikaru dropped two of the fighters one at a time, but the other two pressed their attack with help from what seemed like a million more coming up behind them. "Any other options?" He fired a missile spread from the FAST packs into the closing fighters, knocking two of them out of action but bringing up almost a dozen more to replace them. "I guess not!" He fired his thrusters again and backed away at full throttle, firing in long bursts to try and keep the enemy from lining up a shot. He could already see the booms of the main cannon parting bellow him and he knew he had about fifteen seconds to get through, "Misa don't go shooting me down again!"

"I'll think about it." Hikaru's lighting was getting closer and closer every second. The timing looked almost _too_ perfect... "Gashi, check your targets!"

"Targets locked Admiral! We're in range, energy level at the red line!"

Arcs of energy danced between the main cannon booms, Hikaru's signal to make his run. He turned around, switched to fighter mode and dipped his nose to fly just between the cannons, knowing full well that that humongous formation behind him would follow like lemmings. The arcs intensified as he passed between the cannons, and the light began to rise in his cockpit... "Firing now!" Gashi's voice thundered on the radio.

Hikaru dove his fighter as quickly as he could and cut off the G-limiter on his computer. The move slammed him back into his seat at pulling almost 13 Gs just before the main cannon fired, but he just managed to shout out on his radio "I'm clear!" The dozens of variable armors and battlepods following him instantly vanished, reduced to small clouds of vapor by the energy of the cannon on its way to strike the enemy ships just below the horizon.

SDF-04's beam, along with five Zentradi gunboats and one battleship cut through the upper atmosphere of the planet itself, ionizing particles on the way out, then seemed to burst out of the planet itself to slam into the enemy capitol ships at the front of the formation. The largest twelve vessels of the patrol group were all destroyed instantly, and the remaining vessels panicked and began firing randomly at the planet in hopes of drawing out the enemy they now assumed was hiding down there. It would take another ten minutes for them to come over the horizon and gain a line of sight to the Gallaron fleet, but by then that was more than enough time for Misa's ships to shoot through the gas giant and blast them to bits.

Hikaru kicked into gerwalk and cut his velocity to nothing, checking the space behind him for any signs of survivors he would have to mop up. Only one of them _had_ made it through, though both of its legs were melted away and its engines were already failing. It was derelict, but not quite out of the fight even now, firing randomly in all directions trying to hit something, anything. Hikaru locked onto it with both of his laser cannons to put it out of its misery, but then he had a better idea. "This is Skull Leader to Kappa-Four, have a security team meet me in the starboard grappler hangar. I'll be landing with a guest."

Commander Gashi sighed, "Forget about that Hikaru, there's still hundreds of enemy fighters attacking the fleet! We don't have time for this!"

"I'll just have to _make_ the time, Commander! That pilot's dead in space but for some reason he's not following his suicide order!" He zoomed his sights in as much as they would go and locked his lasers onto the mecha's main weapons systems. One burst from each laser and now the machine was harmless. "Get the team's assembled, I'm bringing it in…"

"You've got fighters closing on your position! Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!"

A burst of cannon fire from somewhere behind him told him as much, and with his ammo running low and his lasers quickly overheating, he didn't want to have to take on another small army of enemy mecha without first stopping to reload. He closed in on the crippled variable armor in fighter mode, and just before impacting with it he switched into gerwalk and effectively tackled the machine at full thrust. Once he was back in range of SDF-04's defensive guns, Hikaru eased back on his throttles and guided his way to the fighter bay where he knew the security teams would be waiting for him.

It was certainly a last minute decision and an unexpected one at that, but this would mark the first time in history a Supervision Army pilot was captured during battle. The battle went on, ending once again in another tiny victory for the Gallaron fleet after a brilliantly planned ambush, but the real victory was one in the starboard grappler hangar of SDF-04. The pilot of the enemy mecha was chained and sedated on his way to a holding cell when one of the fighter mechanics on the other side of the hangar suddenly... and quite accidentally... made history with the single most memorable one-liner since Neil Armstrong took that one small step. Staring in disbelief, the young mechanic ran across the room to the prisoner grabbed his shoulders and shouted out, "Tyler! I don't believe it! I thought you were dead!"

—05:34 GST—

Adjacent to the city block of the SDF-Victory on one of the lower levels, just to port of the macron barracks is the mess hall, which is basically a four story open building next to a macron-sized food court. The ship's regular crewmen spent much of their free time either here, at their homes, or at the Bad Bush club a block down the street. A few officers took their meals here, with occasional appearances by Captain Elensh and the Lighting pilots, and regular attendance by the ship's first officer, but for the most part the patrons of the mess hall were all midshipmen or enlisted soldiers.

Minmei was sitting at her usual table on the rooftop with this mornings breakfast; coffee, toast and a hard boiled egg with a tuna salad over the morning edition of the Megaroad Tribune. There wasn't much going on in the news other than the usual, but there was hope again in the eyes of people all over the Republic. The all-powerful Supervision Army had suddenly lost its teeth, and now the battle had reached maniacal proportions as GSDF fleets hurled into battle with more confidence and ever greater ferocity than ever before. Fleet actions were described as all-out brawls, and for the first time it seemed that the Gallaron forces were beginning to overpower the enemy in more and more direct confrontation. But the greatest news of all was that the center of the Supervision Army's offensive appeared to originate from only one place: the mysterious Kaladan system well within enemy lines where the 6th fleet had suffered a crippling loss a few weeks earlier. All Gallaron efforts centered on surrounding and isolating that system now, putting it in a position where a major offensive might be able to put the enemy out of action and give Gallaron the edge it needed to cement their advantage permanently. It was exciting news, and to think she would get to be a very small part of it all.

She glanced up from the paper to the sound of thunderous laugher and shouting from a table two rows behind her. She recognized one of the voices, finished the last bites of her breakfast and moved over to join them near the edge of the balcony over the macronian food court. Kai Chan and most of his squad was sitting at a table against against the railing, all laughing and joking apparently at Kai Chan's expense. "Just admit it Kai!" Aziz said, catching his breath. "You totally are! Don't be embarrassed, nobody here cares!"

Kai Chan rolled his eyes passively and took a sip of his coffee. "Admit what? I told you, I'm not gay!"

"Oh sure, that's why you haven't had a girlfriend in over six years!" Beecher said, nudging him in the ribs. "Out of this entire squad you're the only one who doesn't look at me in the shower. Even Forest looks at me and we _know_ he's alitte sweet!"

Kai Chan rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You guys go ahead and make jokes, but I'm telling you I'm not like that!"

For some reason, Minmei found this at least as amusing as the marines did. Kai Chan seemed so uncomfortable sitting there at that table while the others ripped into him, but she understood it was all in good fun and wasn't about to be left out. "C'mon Kai, what're you hiding it for?" He set her foot on the seat of one of the chairs and leaned on her knee, "We don't care if you ARE a switch hitter, we're all friends here, you know?"

Only now did he notice her standing there, and he turned to look at Minmei with a betrayed look on his face. "You traitor!"

The others laughed again, but Minmei grinned. "Well, it would explain why I feel so comfortable around you."

Kai Chan rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You're actually enjoying this aren't you?"

"Enjoying what? It's the truth isn't it? Why else would you go out of your way to be so nice to me and you haven't even made a move yet? Just one of the girls, huh?"

Kai Chan leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Are you finished?"

"I'm just getting warmed up!"

"You know, if I was still macronized I'd swat you like a fly right now..."

The alarm started ringing all over the ship. As if parts of some massive machine, every head in the room turned up to the ceiling, listening for the announcement from Commander Gouraz that would come only a few moments later. "General quarters, general quarters. All hands condition yellow, all civilians must vacate outer compartments immediately."

Minmei watched Kai Chan and his squad stampede off down the corridor to get to the armory where their suits were stored, and suddenly became aware of her own lack of a place to go. "Condition yellow? Where am I supposed to…?"

"Hey Minmei!" Lieutenant Doyle called to her from the other end of the balcony, in uniform for a change but still somewhat shabbily dressed. "C'mon babe, it's time to work!"

—05:40 GST—

Hikaru came into the holding cell determined not to jump to any conclusions or be swayed by the brushfire rumors that were sweeping the ship. It had gotten grossly out of hand since this whole situation started, first with that mechanic running across the room shouting out the pilots name, but it had been made worse when his companions announced to the entire mechanics division that Chief tech Danny Norton's brother had come back from the dead as an enemy pilot. The DNA tests confirmed all this, as did the fingerprints and a pull of his service record. 1st Lieutenant Tyler Norton, commanding officer of the 215th Black Widow squadron, was flying transformable powered armors for the enemy. More disturbing still was the mecha itself; it seemed to be based loosely on the VF-4 Lighting and an older design, presumably the Supervision Army's officer suits used only by micronian soldiers. More and more evidence pointed to one terrible conclusion: contrary to previous beliefs, the crew of the space carrier ARMD-16 was still very much alive, and the Supervision Army must have salvaged more than just information from the UN warship. Understanding this helped to explain how the enemy was able to sneak up on Misa's battle group undetected; the pilots were surely familiar with the tactics of Admiral Hayase.

Hikaru was here to find out what else the enemy might have gained from ARMD-16 that the GSDF hadn't thought of yet. Having the crew of an entire UN warship under their power was something everyone knew to be a serious breach of security, but when he came into the room, he found the pilot lying face down on the floor with two medics crouched down on either side of him, examining him curiously with medical equipment. The Protocran doctor Dumo Koru was in the corner reviewing his notes, so Hikaru spoke to him first of all. "What happened to him?" He said, hugging the walls to stay out of the doctor's way in the small holding cell.

"His brain has slipped into a REM cycle from lack of external stimuli. It seems to be an automatic or programmed response based in the adrenal cortex meant to conserve energy..."

Hikaru rubbed his temples, following about one word in four. "Koru, I know I've told you before I don't speak scientist."

Koru sighed and started again using the simplest explanation he could think of. "He got bored and fell asleep."

Hikaru snickered. "What, he just nodded off? Prisoners don't usually fall asleep during interrogations..."

"This one does. He can't really help it." Koru nudged one of the other doctors, and in response the man blindly handed him a sheet of cat-scan data. "He's got all these funky electronics installed in his brain—sort of a high-tech lobotomy. It looks like an entire section of the frontal and pre-frontal lobes have been bypassed and completely shut down and regulated by electrochemical signals from a microchip planted in the inside of his skull in the middle of his forehead. You see that scar on his forehead?"

Hikaru looked, then nodded. It was a very fine mark, a v-shaped line running from just above and between his eyebrows to half the length of his forehead. The whole thing could have fit on a quarter. "Is that a surgical scar?"

"Indeed." Varcus looked back at his papers, "I've have no idea what kind of technology could have done this, but with the kind of precision we're looking it, I'm 100 percent certain that this was done mechanically, some kind of machine device designed for this purpose. After he was captured from ARMD-16, they probably loaded him and the rest of the crew down an assembly line that installed these chips, then they were conditioned and sent off to battle. The only thing I _can't_ figure out is why he didn't obey his suicide order. We've never been able to capture an enemy soldier intact before, they always fuse those explosive charges in their helmets and blow themselves up."

"So it's a form of mind control," Hikaru said, "But apparently it doesn't always work on everyone."

Varcus nodded, "Exactly. He'll do what he's told, act on instinct, but in his present condition he's not even aware of his own existence, let alone the nature of his orders. Even the slightest error in data processing and he'll become hopelessly confused."

That's good to know," Hikaru leaned down and poked him in the chest, "How do you wake him up?"

"I don't know." Koru rubbed his scalp in frustration. "According to the Zentradi, it's a very specific set of tones he's programmed to respond to, presumably some kind of alarm system in their ship. Shikari reported during her raid a couple years ago that when the alarms went off in the enemy command ship, all the Zentradi soldiers went into some kind of homicidal rage…"

Even as he was speaking, Hikaru saw the doors flying open to whole new possibilities of combat tactics. The Supervision Army clearly had little if any trouble with discipline in the ranks since none of their soldiers could really think for themselves, but this meant that no matter what happened the enemy would almost always react the exact same way, doing precisely what their commanders ordered regardless of their situation. Since no one knew just how those orders were passed on it was impossible to take advantage of this directly, but it lead him down other more interesting avenues. "The visual cortex is still intact isn't it?"

This surprised everyone in the room, knowing Hikaru's knowledge in biology was about as extensive as their knowledge of aviation history. "Very much so. I suspect that's probably how they communicate signals to their pilots on the field, either using light patterns in the cockpit displays or by signal flares."

"Right," Hikaru made a note of this, but added, "But just a small error in data processing and they get confused, right? They won't be able to coordinate effectively, or even defend themselves."

Again, Koru was surprised. "Very good Colonel, that's exactly right. The lack of cognitive awareness means their behavior will be simplistic and predictable. In a way it's similar to your daughter's condition, only hundreds of times more acute."

Hikaru started to smile. It was a good guess, and it would be quite a bonus to finally know exactly how the enemy soldiers operated. Even the Zentradi didn't have this kind of detailed information about the Supervision Army, and he already knew just how to prove his theory. He stood to leave, but paused in the doorway before he forgot himself. "Koru, I want you to figure out a way to reverse the process and put this man's mind back together. His kid brother is the chief mechanic in the starboard grappler and he's a little worried about him."

"We'll take him to the infirmary and get to work." Koru turned back to the sleeping prisoner, then shouting him back into the room. "Colonel wait! I just remembered, I finished reviewing your test results this morning! Would you like to know now or would you rather be surprised?"

Hikaru wasn't exactly sure if he knew the answer to that, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to wait long. On the other hand, he had learned a long time ago that sometimes it was best not to spoil a surprise. "I think I'll wait a bit." He said coyly. "But it _is_ a girl right?"

Koru winked at him. "You can go ahead and tell Miko she's going to have a baby sister."

"Excellent! I'll give her the news right away, just as soon as I make a phone call."

—05:40 GST—

The PR officers were already on top of things with a dozen men scrambling all over the ship to get to their posts, some to cover the events as they unfolded, others to act as go-betweens for the anxious civilians onboard the ship; this is where Minmei came in. This was the first real battle Victory had been directly involved in since she got there and she was understandably jumpy. Lieutenant Doyle had been no help, his complete unfamiliarity with basic tact already started to backfire. "Where are we going Boss?" She said, bracing herself against the side of the side of the elevator.

"The Coconut Room." Doyle said plainly. "That's where we direct most of the action around here. It's pretty much the media department's bridge." The elevator car ground to a stop, then moved sideways a few hundred meters before stopping again at the station just bellow the command tower. "Relax, it's your first day. I'll walk you through everything."

Minmei followed nervously to the main monitor room in the command tower's E-Deck and entered into a room laid out like some kind of bizarre combination of an old NASA control center and the control room of a TV studio. There were thirty five very small cameras built into the hull of the ship with angles in all directions and from this room they could access any one of them at any time. This control room served a dual purpose, keep the public up to speed with what is/has been happening and, more importantly, document combat actions for future use by military intelligence. "What do I do?"

"Over here…" Doyle grabbed her by the elbow and thrust her into a padded chair behind a small computer consol one corner of the room. "How are you at public speaking?"

"It comes with the job. I've got lots of practice."

"I thought so." Doyle reached under the consol and brought up a radio headset. "We don't do live video feeds, this will be voice only. You only talk when you have something to say and you'll only have something to say when we give it to you. Push this button…" He gestured to a red switch on the left hand corner of the consol "…for a hot mic, this one for radio. This calls out to all the loudspeakers, radio and TV sets in the ship."

Minmei nodded. "This goes out to all the civilians?"

"Some crewmen too, pretty much anyone without a direct line to the bridge. Sometimes Commander Gouraz or Captain Elensh takes care of this, but most of the time we do it ourselves so they don't have to worry about it."

Minmei could fully understand that. The civilians on Macross had been enough of a headache for the officers to worry about all the time, and she seemed to remember a great deal of war propaganda being sent out over the loudspeakers following just about every air raid. In many ways, she knew this was at least as important to the ship as the men out there who were doing all the hard work. "Boss, you know what's going on out there?"

Doyle looked around at the two dozen nervous technicians and intelligence officers around the room, then back at Minmei. "You're the one who has to talk to the people. Ask somebody."

Minmei looked around the consol and found the switch to set the microphone to radio only. "This is PA, I need to make an announcement. Does anyone know what's going on?"

Barely half a heartbeat later, someone on the other side of the room answered her. "Radio here. The ship's come across some wrecked warships in our flight path and Captain Elensh thinks it might be a booby trap. There's a few Meltrandi warships in the area, but mostly Supervision. None of them are moving."

"Then why the alert? What are we doing?"

"Captain wants to keep her distance until the scout teams can check it out. That usually takes about half an hour."

Minmei took it all in and jotted down a few notes on the computer screen. "Okay… what do I say?"

Doyle pointed to the red button for the public announcer line, "Tell them the ship has encountered a hazardous situation and there is no immediate danger."

"Just say that?"

"No, put it into words that make it all seem pointless and stupid! C'mon girl, you know how this works!"

Minmei thought it over, jotted down a few lines on her computer screen, and nervously pressed the red button. "Attention all civilians, this ship has encountered a navigational hazard. As a precaution, please remain indoors until the situation is secured. Sorry for the inconvenience, this shouldn't take long." Minmei let her finger off the button and took a breath. "How was that?"

Doyle smiled and laughed out loud. "Minmei, baby, you're a natural!"

—05:41 GST—

Kai Chan shifted his weight on the hull and tested it again, scanning with the thermal imager of his VFX-12. There was no doubt, there was definitely a heat source somewhere inside this ship, and given his proximity to the engine hull it was easy to guess what it was. There were bodies floating in space near him as well, female soldiers in flight suits with trails of frozen blood spiraling around them, yet he could not seem to find a breach in the hull where they might have come from, nor could he see any wreckage from dead powered armors or fighters nearby. The sheer number of bodies floating around was also troubling; they were so close together and there were so many of them, his visibility close to the ship was becoming more and more limited as he approached the engine room. Despite everything the Zentradi had taught him while training him and his battalion for mecha combat, his basic marine training took over. He knew this place, he knew what was going on, and he was pretty sure the others knew as well. "Eyes open folks." He said, keeping off the un-coded channel. "Live people are watching us. Infantry, fall back by squads to the Victory. Section Zero, stick by me."

The three Stormlord squads moved first, while the VFs in Kai Chan's unit gathered up around him and started their return trip. They quickly but carefully negotiated the scattered debris around whatever ship they were closest to and began filtering back to the Victory, scanning in all directions for the ambush they all knew would come at any moment. Barely a few hundred meters from the bow of a destroyer, Beecher caught something out of the corner of her eye, a barely perceptible glint of movement, half shrouded in shadow but still detectable. She switched to thermal imaging and saw it more clearly; just a chunk of debris moving away from the ship, but just what had disturbed this fragment in the first place was painfully obvious. "Kai, on my six, five hundred meters."

Kai Chan saw Beecher moving away from the destroyer, and he saw a fragment of metal drifting away from that very destroyer at a fairly slow velocity. It was perfect, brilliantly planned, but poorly executed. "Second and Third squads, wait for my signal, then give us a protective blanket of fire. Once we're out of the kill zone, turn and run like hell." Kai Chan scanned behind him and locked his weapons onto the fragment. "Ready… OPEN FIRE!"

Twenty Stormlord armors all turned at once and fired with both plasma cannons, some adding in a burst from their gunpods, some firing chest lasers and autocannons to add to the barrage even as Kai Chan's squad added their gunpods to the attack. The maelstrom of energy beams and shells made fast work of the floating hunk of metal, revealing a silver powered armor underneath and likewise reducing it to a hunk of twisted metal. The surprised pilot actually tried to bail out of the suit, only to float face first into an impossible storm of death.

All hell broke loose behind them, powered armors suddenly burst from concealment and began to fill the skies. At first Kai Chan was daunted by the prospect of having yet another hard days work ahead of him, but then his scanners identified the attackers for who they were. "Queadlunn-Raus! Damn, it's the Meltrandi!"

Three of them locked onto his fighter and fired a burst of lasers from both arms; switching into battloid mode, Kai Chan was just able to dodge the worst of it before falling back with the others. Two Stormlords behind him went down one after another, both destroyed by missiles from the same powered armor. Kai Chan locked onto it with his gunpod, lead the target, and caught it through the legs with a long burst. One of his shells hit just high enough to knick the pilot, and the suit started to retreat beyond the range of his guns. "This is Black Zero to Delta-Vee, we have a bit of a situation here!"

Imura almost sounded annoyed. "I can see that Black Zero, stand by."

Kai Chan wasn't too happy with the idea of waiting for Imura to connect whatever weird plans she had up her sleeve, but he didn't really have a choice now. Two more armors closed in from behind him, both firing with impact cannons at wild angles obviously meant to drive him in some direction. He guessed at where they wanted him to go, and turned his head just enough to see something moving against the stars, silhouetted against the flare from its own engines. A black Queadlunn-Rau armor with light gray shoulders; this was an ace pilot, and this was Kai Chan's way out. "Imura, I need you to fire the secondary cannons directly at my coordinates in fifteen seconds!"

She no longer sounded annoyed, now only puzzled. "You want us to shoot you down?"

"I want you to shoot AT me! Ten seconds, hurry up!"

Imura decided Kai Chan knew what he was doing, so she nodded at Lieutenant Merrick and started the countdown. "Firing in eight seconds." Kai Chan aimed the gunpod at the two armors and traded shots for a little bit. "…seven… six…" No more time to play, he turned all his attention on the enemy ace and switched to IR only. He could see the outline of it's heat signature even at this distance, and it was more than enough to keep track of it. The suit quickly caught on that he was following and began a dizzying array of maneuvers like a panicked horsefly. He switched back into fighter mode and followed as best he could, and firing his afterburners to get in closer. "…five… four…" He let fly with everything he had, missiles, head lasers and his gunpod, but true to his expectations this enemy danced around everything he had like some kind of game and returned fire with equal intensity. It was all a diversion anyway; all he could hope was that she wanted to kill him as much as he wanted her. "…three… two…" He stopped dodging and charged in as straight as he could, using only small movements to throw off her aim. He tried an old Zentradi trick, a tight zigzag pattern that invariably made a pilot dizzy but was always effective in avoiding enemy fire. Only a hundred more meters… "one… zero… firing now!"

Four of the beam cannons on the Victory's hull aimed and fired directly on Kai Chan's position. He reacted quickly enough to get out of the line of fire, but the other pilot had been so distracted by their duel she it took her an extra millisecond to react. She avoided the beam cannons by an extremely narrow margin, but it gave Kai Chan the half-heartbeat he needed to catch her; he switched back to radar, popped open the internal missile bays on the legs and fired all sixteen of his mini-missiles straight at the female armor and immediately moved to circle around behind her. This time she wasn't fast enough, and as the missiles exploded against her suit she could do nothing but curl up into a ball to deflect the missiles with arms and legs.

The suit emerged from the explosions with both arms gone and both legs chopped to bits, spinning out of control as Kai Chan came up behind it. The hatch opened a moment later and the pilot leapt from the dead mecha, almost directly into Kai Chan's arms as he passed the armor in battloid mode. He put one arm around her waist and held his gunpod against the faceplate of her flight suit with the other, let her stay there for a moment to consider her position. He was at first amused that she tried to struggle free of his grip, even though his VF had enough strength to physically crush her if he needed to, then she seemed to relax a bit and accept the hopelessness of her situation. Once Kai Chan was satisfied, he toggled through standard Zentradi frequencies, "Tell your soldiers to stop fighting." He said firmly.

The pilot stopped struggling, and in surprise half turned to look at the fighter now holding her captive. "What!"

"Tell them to stop fighting. This battle is a waste or ammunition."

The pilot nodded, understanding suddenly that some mistake had obviously been made and clicked the radio controls on her wrist. "This is Commander Tiamat to all units, we are engaged with friendly forces. Cease fire immediately. I repeat, cease fire immediately."

—23:31 GST—

Slowly, gradually, Corina became aware of a ticking sound in her ears, something that seemed to grow louder every moment. She opened one eye slowly, the other more slowly, then glanced around in a kind of daze to determine her surroundings. She was in her office, she was alone, and the old clock on the desk that Misa had left her ticking off the seconds almost next to her head. Without raising her head off the desk, she read the hands of the clock to see she had been sleeping like this for almost two hours; it felt like two years.

Partly in regret from wasting so much time, she lifted her head up slightly, then peeled off a sheet of paper stuck to her face and looked it over. "Strategic readiness report for Deck-42," she said, reading the heading, then noticing the rest of the documents sprawled out on her desktop. The report itself was over eight pages long, and as usual contained little more than a summary of every officer's conduct during the last three combat actions, anything worthy of note anyway. How this kind of thing ended up on her desk she wasn't quite sure, but she decided she would either think of her reason for requesting it or else give it back to the duty officer who was supposed to take care of these reports every week. But then there was a new sound in the quiet of the office, a knock on the door and a muffled voice from outside. "Come in." She said tiredly, brushing the wrinkles out of her uniform and smoothing he hair back.

Major Sutherland stepped into the office with a file in his hand, making no pretense of standing at attention of military procedures. He walked as he would into a friends bedroom, but Corina was in no mood to care. "Just got the report from the strike wing, ma'am." He said casually. "The raid was a total success. The carriers never saw it coming."

Corina nodded appreciably, thumbing through the papers and glancing at the pages. "Well at least we've saved Gallaron the trouble of having to fight off another little raid... hey, why so many casualties? It says here Black Lion squadron lost six planes on the first pass."

Sutherland shrugged it off. "It was a pretty rough furball from what I heard. The pilots all ejected though, and some of the fighters can be salvaged."

"Not good enough." Corina stood up behind the desk and handed him back the report. "We can't afford to loose this many craft in every operation. We have an eight-to-one kill ratio against enemy fighters and ten-to-one against warships, but of course you know we're outnumbered by alot more than ten-to-one."

Sutherland nodded solemnly. "You're right Captain, I'll work with the other squad leaders to try and improve efficiency."

Corina yawned and dropped back into her chair. "You'd better. This war is going to be hard enough, we need every advantage..." She rubbed her eyes and yawned again. She felt like she was going to fall asleep right in front of him, but by willpower alone she forced herself to stay alert until he was gone. For some reason when she looked up again, Major Sutherland was still there. "Is there anything else Major?"

"When's the last time you slept Captain?" He said casually.

Corina rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, thank you Major." She turned slightly to give him the cue to leave, but the man was still there when she looked up again, staring at her relentlessly. She had been annoyed before, but for some reason she could appreciate the concern. The rest of the crew probably shared a similar sentiment. "I'm fine Glen, I'll take a catnap or something later. Just go on with your shift."

"I'm off duty now, Captain. I came here because Amelia said you haven't been feeling well."

Corina made a note to herself to have a little chat with Commander Ryder next time she had the chance, then turned to the Major's disposition. She knew he probably meant well, but his presence was quickly becoming an intolerable nuisance. "Glen, I appreciate the concern, but I would appreciate it even more if you would stop staring at me like some lovesick schoolboy and make yourself scarce."

"Aye Captain." He said casually, finally turning to leave her office. "Take care ma'am, and try to get some rest."

Just as the door closed behind him, Corina caught a glance from him over his shoulder, a glance that for some reason suddenly made her feel very uncomfortable. "What the hell was _that_ all about…?" And then it hit her, the readiness report from Deck 41. She remembered she had called for it to get more information about Major Sutherland; she remembered she was trying to find a reason to have him transferred anywhere else in the universe but here. Unfortunately, whatever impulse had moved her to this decision was lost to oblivion, but she was sure it would come back to her sooner or later.

—August 19, 2018—

—27:50 GST—

There were only five ships in flight towards the rendezvous point with the Zentradi vessels, SDF-Ajax, Defiant, two destroyers and a single battleship of the old Bodolza fleet. This would be the envoy of the first face-to-face negotiations between Gallaron and Zentradi armies. Shikari was unhappy with Gyzol's choice of representatives, but he had explained to her that Tiamat was the only members of his fleet operating in their part of the sector and that she would have to do. He apologized in advance for any discomfort she might and most likely would experience because of Tiamat's impulsive nature, and already that apology had been put to its first use. Imura warned her over a secure line that the meltrandi fleet was barbaric and whimsical even by Shikari's standards, and she was careful to stress that they were extremely likely to judge her on appearance alone. Coming from Imura, who had respected Shikari less than anyone when she first took command of her fleet six years before, it was a very powerful statement.

Tiamat's fleet was now waiting for them in a section of inter-stellar space near the Kaladan system close to where SDF-09 had run across them during their patrol, and Shikari's envoy was almost at the rendezvous point. She was worried for this meeting for more reasons than even she could count, and other stresses and distractions were piling up, so she decided the best thing was to take a few hours before that fateful encounter to relax with the people closest to her; a few minutes later, Captain Harper received a phone call.

Shikari met Harper in his apartment like she had planned, but quite contrary to his designs she showed up in full uniform with takeout from the King Lao's in the Defiant's city block. Matt immediately knew she was in no mood for fun. "You didn't have to bring food," He said innocently. "I was just gonna cook for us."

"Did you start yet?"

"No..."

"Well don't, we've got plenty here for both of us." She pushed past him and set the two large paper bags on the table, each one filled to the top with various cartons of Chinese Food.

Matt recognized that with her quirky metabolism this meal would probably feed her for a couple of days, but if she put it off much longer she would become extremely unpleasant to be around so he figured he might as well indulge her. "Well that was thoughtful or you, thanks."

Shikari smiled and unloaded the last of the cartons. "I think we should talk."

A warning flag went up in Matt's brain. He knew only too well that good things never come after a woman says 'we need to talk.' This was trouble. "Talk about what, honey?"

"About us, about our future, that kinda thing." Shikari opened up the first carton of rice, reached for a massive spoon next to the table and took two huge shovels of food one after another, caught her breath, then went on slowly. "I know I'm new to your culture and I don't know much about relationships, but we've been seeing each other for a fairly long time now..."

"Well we've only been going out for seven months."

"Yeah..." Shikari took another shovel of fried rice, then popped open a carton of egg rolls. "...but we've had an intimate relationship and in your culture this level of closeness usually accompanies a very large commitment."

Another warning flag went up, this time at the context of the word "commitment" in this conversation. Matt suddenly realized was in more trouble than he thought. "What kind of... commitment?"

"Well," Shikari bit off part of one egg roll. "Traditionally, most sexual partnerships take place between married couples. I read about this in your archives and the idea kind of excited me."

A third warning flag went up in Matt's head. He was afraid something like this would happen, and now he was closer than ever to getting burned... "Shik, I've been thinking about it too. Believe me when I tell you, word's could not describe how much you mean to me. It's just that... I'm just not ready for this yet."

"When _will_ you be ready?" She said, finishing her egg roll and moving back to the rice.

Matt Harper was happy with the way things were, he was satisfied with the pace of their relationship as it was. Now he realized that Shikari may have been naive, but she was an incredibly fast learner. "We've got a good thing right now," He said, referring more to himself than to her. "I don't want to screw it all up by taking unnecessary risks. We should go slowly, we shouldn't rush things."

Shikari smiled warmly. "If that's how you feel, then that's what we'll do. We'll go slowly, we'll get even closer than we are now until you have nothing left _but_ to marry me!" She giggled at the idea, then finished the carton of fried rice with one more scoop.

Matt broke into a cold sweat. "Yeah... sounds good..." Once again he thought to himself, _I am definitely about to get burned..._

The loud speaker interrupted both of them, Commander Faulk's voice ringing through. "All sections, condition yellow. We are now approaching meltrandi warships at rendezvous point. General Shikari, please report to the bridge."

It was well past time, but alittle early in context. She still had an entire dinner to try and finish up, but there would be plenty of time to scarf it all down later. "I want you to take a fighter and escort me to Tiamat's ship. I'll setup a meeting on her turf."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

Shikari shook her head. "This is going to be a very long and dangerous meeting, and whatever happens _do not_ get involved."

Harper nodded reluctantly. "Sure, I know you can take care of yourself…"

"No matter what. Even if I seem to be in trouble, don't do anything unless I tell you first."


	16. Chapter 15: Empty Promise

****

Chapter 15: Empty Promise

—August 9, 2018—  
—29:11 GST—  
Tiamat was amused by Shikari's choice of companions; her first officer reported that the General was accompanied by a Meltrandi Queadlunn-Rau pilot named Febbria Komusara and a pair of micronians driving robotic suits. She had to hand it to the little guys, they sure were creative; despite their small size they still found a way to imitate their larger counterparts, perhaps even to the point of competing with them on the battlefield. Based on what she'd heard about the Warlord Shikari and the fact that her forces had held on so long with only a few hundred ships, she was certain this alliance would be a worthwhile investment and her micronian soldiers were probably worth knowing at the very least.

Tiamat came into the room and saw exactly what Shikari expected her to see, and judging by the look on her face she was thoroughly confused. "Who're you? I was expecting General Shikari. Has there been a problem?"

Shikari stood her ground, hoping she was ready for the entire process that she knew this meeting would involve. "I am Shikari, there's been no problem. I came here because I wanted you to see who it was you were really dealing with."

Tiamat stared with her jaw hanging limp. Shikari stood a full four meters shorter than her and was at least three tons lighter, a bizarre contrast to the impressive looking woman she had spoken to on communications channels. At first she found it amusing and almost laughed, but after a moment she began to find the idea insulting. "I see. In that case I will now relieve you of your command and take full autho…"

"No, that's not what I'm here for. I asked for your help, not a replacement."

Tiamat was even more confused. "Gen… Shikari, you are an archivist, nothing more. It is not your place to give orders, only recommend options. You are not fit for command, and just by wearing that uniform you are violating more regulations than either of us could count…"

"Twenty two last time I checked, unless you disagree with the emergency command clause about archivists managing field combat units in the absence of their commander in which case it comes to about twenty six. But I am not an officer of the Zentradi army, so those regulations do not quite apply to me."

"Not an officer…" Tiamat had to look her over again to make sure she wasn't mistaken somehow. "You're Zentradi, how can you not be an officer? There's too kinds of people in this universe, Zentradi and targets..."

"I don't think you understand. I've joined with a different force now and I answer to a new chain of command. We didn't come to you just for reinforcements, we came to you because we think we can help each other against a mutual enemy…"

"Okay, shut up, my head hurts." Tiamat stepped back and leaned against the door. "So a little shit like you wants to join her little private army in a fight against our "mutual enemy?" Shikari, are you deranged!"

"But I…"

"Forget about it! I didn't fight my way across two hundred and fifty light years and demolished my favorite suit just to form an alliance with a chicken shit archivist and a pack of micronians!"

Shikari nodded slowly. "If you want to put it that way, go right ahead." The three officers on the other side of the room hung their heads, and by their body language Harper could make out a kind of exasperation with this entire ordeal. He was sure that whatever was about to happen would probably not be pleasant, and everyone in the room except Tiamat wanted to get it over with quickly. "Just to make sure you understand," Shikari continued, "The sad fat is you are not going to beat the Supervision Army without our help. If we don't work together they'll destroy us both, and even if YOU have a problem with that, Commander Gyzol will probably see it differently."

Tiamat had been holding her temper for hours before then, restraining the urge to have someone killed for the discomfort she sustained when Kai Chan shot her down. After this impulse she parted with restraint altogether; and by a strike of Tiamat's fist, Shikari parted with two of her teeth. She tumbled back, crashed through a pair of chairs in the meeting room, and was just struggling to her feet again when Tiamat kicked her over. "Listen very carefully! You are nothing, cross me and you will be LESS than nothing! I could crush you like a micronian, you will not insult me on my own ship!"

Shikari came to her feet more quickly and held up a hand to stop Harper and the others from offering help; somehow they were all surprised she knew what they were doing without even looking at them. "I just did." She said sternly. "Or have you not been paying attention?"

Tiamat lunged again, catching Shikari on the other side of her face with the other hand. It had much the same effect, sending her spiraling around the room like a rag doll. Harper made another move in his fighter to help, but Febb put a hand up to stop him, realizing but not understanding why Shikari was doing what she was doing.

This time Tiamat pounced on her before she could get back up and stood over her, holding her by the collar of her uniform. "You have anything else to say?"

Shikari spat a jet of blood onto the deck next to her and smiled up as best she could with her swollen jaw. "Just this. You fight like a man." Tiamat pulled her up and punched her in the forehead again, bouncing her head off the deck with the reaction. "A small man!" Tiamat punched her again. "A micronian man!" Tiamat punched her again, three more times to ensure Shikari's silence. "Like a Shiar-zentran!" Tiamat wound up and delivered one final blow; the impact from Shikari's skull smacking the metal of the deck actually echoed around the room.

Harper could barely look at this anymore, but at least it seemed to be over. Shikari wasn't moving, and Tiamat backed off a bit to try and collect her temper. She took a few short breaths, then apparently noticed Harper's battloid standing near the doorway next to Febb and two meltran soldiers from the Defiant; her expression softened. "Hey micronian, you enjoying the show?" Matt wouldn't even dignify that with an answer, which Tiamat found more amusing than any answer he could give. "Heh. There's just no pleasing some pe—" She turned back just in time to catch the tip of Shikari's fist across her jaw, staggered off balance and fell right into a sweep kick. She landed on her shoulder and rolled back to her feet, but no sooner was she up again was she also airborne, with the heel print of Shikari's boot now indented under her jaw. She caught herself from falling all the way and tried to get her footing, and once again Shikari hit her for a third strike, capitalizing on the weak spot on her left side with a spinning roundhouse. The kick made contact right where it was supposed to, and Shikari felt the satisfying softness of three broken ribs, the same three Kai Chan had broken earlier that day during their brief but heated duel.

Tiamat fell to her knees, suddenly unable to breathe, but set to even the tables Shikari gave her a parting shot; two-step side kick to the side of the face. The meltrandi commander flopped to the deck like a rag doll, but unlike her smaller counterpart she did not get up again. Her officers looked on from the other side of the room, more embarrassed than anything else but not really sure what the best course of action would be. "We're sorry for that... display." One of them said. "Commander Tiamat's been a bit under the weather today. First she lost her favorite suit fighting your comrades, then while we were waiting for your ship our first officer challenged her to a drinking contest and... you know how it is."

"I completely understand." She said, grinning despite the pain on her cheek.

"Anyway, since the Commander is a little indisposed at the moment, I'll accept your offer of an alliance and I'll pass your offer on to Commander Gyzol. Speaking of which, those reaction weapons you delivered to us have already started to come in handy."

Shikari raised a brow. "You've been using them?"

"And how." The officer grinned just a bit. "The Botoru fleet has made more progress in the last week than in over a year of fighting. It's weird too, the enemy has just suddenly stopped reinforcing their positions and they all started falling back to Bokata. If this keeps up we'll be moving into that system before too long.

"That's... good news..." She didn't like the sound of this at all. The enemy was in retreat on all fronts, but in both cases there didn't seem to be any logical explanation for it. Obviously, there was something else going on within the Supervision Army that she was not yet aware of; she made a mental note to try and contact Kraken again next chance she got. Snapping back into the present, Shikari wiped the blood from her mouth and walked back over to the doorway to depart along with Harper and the others. "When she wakes up, tell her to take a long cold shower."

"Cold shower?"

"Micronian trick." She said disappearing through the door. "Helps with hangovers."

—August 14, 2018—  
—07:30 GST—  
He definitely heard something odd, this time he couldn't ignore it. That same scratching sound, like a set of very small nails clawing at the foot of his door. Every time Broli opened the door he saw no one there and nothing outside, but every time he came back from his duty shift or made any kind of sudden noise the scratching sound would be back. He had finally made up his mind to call maintenance about a pest problem when at last he lost his nerve, stormed to the door and threw it open. Again, there was nothing there and the sound was again gone. "I can't take much more of this." He grumbled. "Termites? Spiders? What the hell?" He stopped a moment at the sound of the phone ringing in his quarters and turned back to answer it. "Broli here."

"Secure line, Captain. It's your wife."

"I'll take it in here." Broli sat back in a chair in front of the vid screen, then noticed suddenly that he had left the door open. Just for a moment he had a brief vision of a strange alien monster sneaking into his apartment and leaving the door open just a crack like it did in all the horror movies. He darted back through the living room to shut it, then sat back in the chair, facing the image of a slightly confused Corina Matheson on the vid screen. "Hey Kitten!"

"Hi Broli... is this a bad time?"

He shrugged, "Good as any. What's new?"

"Just checking in on you, making sure you're not cheating on me or anything."

Broli snickered. "How'd you find out? I swore all thirty of them to secrecy! Hey don't worry though, they all mean nothing to me..."

Corina's cheeks turned purple, "Oh, get over yourself! You're not _that_ charming!"

"You better hope not." Broli smiled again, then stopped and listened; the scratching sound was back. He glanced around the room again to try and pin it down, but there was nothing in sight other than the usual furniture and a few trinkets he'd picked up over the years. "So what's up? Haven't talked to you in a few days..."

"Sorry honey, but this is kind of a business call too."

Broli's shoulders slumped a bit. Lately he had started to miss the flirtatious small-talk the two of them exchanged and the equally goofball e-mails that passed back and forth from fleet to fleet, week after week. "I see," he said, shifting into a more serious mannerism, "What's going on?"

"Well, long story short, Shikari made arrangements with the Botoru fleet for more active support. They're sending warships to expand out fleet sizes in regular engagements, so if you're approached by any Zentradi vessels you're to assume them as friendly and link up with them right away."

Broli smiled again, but once again found himself distracted by that same scratching sound. He tried to ignore it, even though something told him it was getting closer every second. He could almost hear the creepy, ominous background music that would normally be playing at moment like this. "That is the best news I've had all year."

"I know. Also, there's a fairly large group on route to your position right now. You should hold your position for a little bit and make the rendezvous, they should be joining you in the next twelve hours."

"I'll tell the bridge to expect company then. Anything else?"

Corina blushed a bit. "Broli,"

"Yes dear?" He could tell from the tenderness in her voice that the business part of this conversation was over. This was a wife talking to her husband across dozens of separating light years.

"Have you been feeling... tension lately?"

"What kind of tension?"

Corina looked around shyly—a curious action considering she was in the privacy of her own quarters—and lowered her voice. "Do you sometimes feel uncomfortable around some of your junior officers? Like something about them makes you feel really unsure of yourself?"

Broli thought about it, then seemed to realize what she was getting at. "Oh! Well..." why she seemed so bothered by this he couldn't really be sure, but suspicion was not in his nature. "Well, occasionally, that happens, when a younger officer gets attracted to an authority figure... some kind of mother complex, I understand. Lieutenant Raltha announced to me last month that she had a schoolgirl's crush on me, but I think she's over it."

"You _think_ it's over?"

"Yeah, I..." He heard the scratching again, this time it seemed to be coming from right next to him. He looked around the chair at his feet but again found nothing. "Weird..."

"Broli?"

He turned back to the monitor, "Yeah, uh... I used one of the gunner's mates to draw some attention away from myself, so I'm in the clear. So let me guess, some baby-faced newbie on the SDF-2 may or may not have a thing for his commanding officer? Something like that?"

Corina thought of Major Sutherland as many things, but baby-faced was not one of them. "Not exactly, somewhere along those lines. What do you think I should do?"

"I don't know for sure, it's a little out of my league, but the only thing I can say is, give the guy a distraction, a decoy to draw his attention from..." Broli felt something brush against his leg. He looked down slowly to try and see this thing that had been haunting him all this time finally manifested, and for a few moments he was speechless. "Hey a kitten!"

"Yes, dear?"

"No, not you..." Broli leaned down and picked it up, a little black and gray cat barely big enough to fit in both of his hands. It seemed exhausted, content only to lie there in the palms of his hands licking the back of its paws. "I think I just made a new friend."

"Where did _that_ come from?" Corina gazed into the monitor with wide eyes. "One of the neighbor's?"

"I don't think so, but I'll ask around." Broli set the kitten down on the rug again and turned it over on its back. How it even got into his apartment was a complete mystery; the little cat wasn't much bigger than a large rat and didn't look strong enough to stand in its own let alone push open Broli's front door. "Anyway," he turned his attention back to Corina, "Whoever this guy is who seems to have a thing for you, I wouldn't worry about it. He'll get over himself eventually."

In all honesty, Major Sutherland was only part of her problem. She had actually called Broli for advice on what _she_ should do, but she imagined that was probably the best thing in either case. "Think I'll do that, thanks for the advice."

Broli felt the kitten brush against his leg again, apparently struggling to get his attention. As little as it was, he imagined it was probably too small to fend for itself yet. But something in its eyes told him that was a mistake of judgment. His feline guest was much stronger than it looked, much like some other small felines that had come to earn his affection in recent years. "Well, as long as you're here, I might as well feed you."

"Are you gonna keep it?"

"Don't know. I've never had a pet before..." He scooped it up again in his hands and set it on his lap, wondering just what to do next with his new houseguest. The kitten looked up at him with admiring eyes, commanding and submissive at the same time, and finally gave the tiniest mew of approval and stretched out on his thigh. "Kinda reminds me of you though." He said grinning. "I think I'll..."

The speaker on the side of the screen broke through with Lieutenant Raltha's voice. "Captain Broli, priority message from SDF-09."

"Thank you Lieutenant. Sorry Kitten, duty calls…" Broli looked at the little cat again, still perplexed at how to handle this visitor, and apparently lost in thought he clicked off the monitor without another word.

Corina found herself staring at a blank screen for a few moments feeling now more uncertain than ever. It seemed to her that Broli wasn't at all bothered by being away from her, that he didn't seem in the least bit affected by her absence, while she on the other hand couldn't even sleep at night with that huge empty space next to her bed. She stared at the blank screen for almost a minute, partly looking at her own tired reflection and partly staring at the after image of her husband across almost a dozen light-years distance. At length, she gave up on it and decided to get back to work, but once she turned away from the monitor she saw her door was open. She wasn't at all surprised to see Major Sutherland standing there, half in shadow from the dim light of the corridor outside. "Goddammit Glen, do you _ever_ knock?"

"Sorry, Captain." He said casually. "The door was open, I didn't think you were in."

Corina didn't believe that for a moment. She had no doubt he'd been standing there for at least the last six minutes eaves dropping on her conversation. "Why the hell would my door be open if I wasn't in here?"

"Well, uh..." he scratched his head, suddenly at a loss to explain beyond his own poorly contrived excuse.

Corina sighed, already too annoyed with him to care. "Never mind. What do you want?"

"Sensors are picking up a defold reaction near the third planet of this system. Profile suggests Zentradi warships."

"Is it _them_?"

"Uh huh."

That was good news, it meant the group from the Botoru fleet she was supposed to meet with was almost a day ahead of schedule. Even though she was very glad to hear this, Corina was glowering at him. "Major, did you really have to sneak into my quarters just to tell me _that_?"

"Nope."

"Then why the hell...!"

"Have a nice evening Captain."

Glen closed the door behind him and left her seething in a pool of her own frustrations. "I swear, before this war is over, I am going to kill that man." She grumbled, moving off to the bedroom to retire for the night. "And if I don't get a decent night's sleep, I'm going to kill _myself_."

—August 15, 2018—  
—19:57 GST—  
Nearly a thousand Regult battlepods from the Zentradi fleet swarmed the Supervision Army ships with a vicious intensity, filling the skies with light and fire. The enemy fleet was mostly exhausted already, so there weren't many pods or fighters in space, but there were more than enough to be a pain for the Allies. And yet, with the battle lines stretched across thousands of miles, it had even become a rarity for any two squadrons to cross paths except on their way to or from their home fleets.

They had arranged only a few hours before for the Zentradi battalions to act in support of VF squadrons, which saw fifty Regults supporting every squadron leader for a series of organized, coordinated moves. They all moved at once, cutting through enemy defenses with beam cannons and missile spreads to close in on their main objective, fighting through the patrol lines of fighters and pods, through the pickets and destroyers until by now they had finally closed in on the Supervision Army command ship near the rear of the fleet. It had taken them three days to get this far, and now that they finally had the command ship in their sights, the aces of Skull Squadron and a small galaxy of supporting Lightnings and Regults began to press their advantage.

Nevertheless, the ship was defending herself extremely well, defensive batteries putting out a storm that made Hikaru consider a career in sewing. Four Regults pushed forward alongside of him, and with a burst of fire from the flagship three of them exploded at once. The others deviated a little to avoid more fire, but the Lightings of the squadron pushed forward undaunted. Hikaru managed a glance at the mission timer on his instrument panel, and by now he began to worry. "Skull Leader to all units, concentrate all firepower on the communications array on the top of the bridge!"

"Communications?" One of the Regult commanders came through on the radio. "Are you sure that's a good idea? If we destroy the comms array they won't be able to signal a retreat..."

"But they also can't call for reinforcements!" Hikaru banked sharply to avoid a burst of defensive fire, and continued, "If we cut off her communications, she'll be stuck here! She can't recall her escorts and she can't leave them behind!"

"Good thinking, Colonel!" Some of the Regults broke formation and moved to close in on the bridge of the ship while the Zentradi leader's Glaug corkscrewed in on a nest of defensive lasers. "There's an opening on the starboard side! Get in there, we'll cover you!"

"I see it! Skull Three, Skull Six, on my wing!" He waited a few moments, gave Lieutenant Arriaga and Ensign Madison some time to find him, then setup his angle and swooped in on the starboard side of the command ship. A group of more than a dozen Regults and two Glaugs formed up around him as a flying gauntlet. A squadron or two of supervision mecha appeared in front of them in a vain effort to make up for the hole in the command ship's defensive screen, but the three VFs and their escorting regults plowed through them like a space-borne football team.

Hikaru lit up his targeting radar and locked onto the communications array. As soon as he was in range, he toggled his missiles to his last two AGM-156 "Hailstone" missiles; on his HUD, a green box formed around the array, and two small flashing dots next to it indicated his wingmen were locked in as well. So much the better; the communications array was the size of a small warship. "Let her rip!" he shouted, and his thumb pressed the pickle button on the flight stick.

All three of the Lightnings banked hard away from the command ship, and over his shoulder Hikaru watched the missiles they had fired diving in towards their target. Just before impact all eight of the missiles separated into their multi-warheads, spraying the comms array with a shower of armor piercing, high explosive rockets. All of them showered the command tower and drowned it in a sea of explosive force... but when the haze of the explosions cleared, the communications array, somehow, remained intact. "Unbelievable," he growled, "Skull Leader to Gunsight-Four... Misa dear, I don't suppose we could borrow some of your firepower?"

Back on SDF-04, with part of the bridge aglow with electrical fires and smoke filling the room, Misa was in a far less jovial mood than her high-flying husband. "Lieutenant Gorath, have all ships begin cannon bombardment, and have the destroyers Fenrir and Lexington deploy their missiles."

"Yes, Admiral. Target data coming up."

Across the fleet, the naval gunners of the GSDF's Fourth Advanced Fleet were setting up their datalink to the Cats-eye recon planes close to the front, relaying target information for the Supervision Army warships. At half a million miles, the Supervision warships were just within firing range, and at maximum resolution, the gunners on the Zentradi and Gallaron warships could just barely make out the shapes and outlines of their targets against the background of stars. With her own eyes, Admiral Hayase couldn't even see the enemy from this distance, but she knew by now that the only thing she would be able to see at all was the flash when one of them exploded. "Gunsight Four to all ships," she said at last, "Your primary target is the enemy battleship to the rear. Match bearings and fire at will." Then clicked her microphone on again and called out to Hikaru, "Gunsight Four to Skull Leader, we're starting out bombardment. Try and keep your fighters concentrated to the front of the enemy ships!"

"Copy that, Gunsight..." Two seconds later, like a bolt from the blue, a luminous hailstorm of laser fire struck down on the command ship from the darkness of space, streaking past it on all sides, raking along its flanks, swarming and surrounding it. Much of the first salvo were misses, but the second followed immediately with nearly a dozen direct hits, slicing through the hull of the great battleship and raising fireballs from deep within the hull. By the time the third salvo struck it had already raised its reflex barrier, but as GSDF guns grew more accurate, the barrier would not hold for long.

"I love watching that," Hikaru said, pausing for just a moment of nostalgia, "It looks like rain hitting a puddle of water," Then he thought, _ And every time we see a splash, fifty people get killed._

"On your six, Colonel!" Arriaga said almost too late; a spread of missiles buzzed in on Hikaru's tailpipe with almost no warning, fired from a variable powered armor none of them had seen coming.

Hikaru snapped out of his revile in a heartbeat, banked sharply left and then switched into gerwalk mode and reversed directions. His timing was perfect by a turn of luck; the missiles overshot and detonated a few meters behind him as he turned again with his two wingmen and fired back at the powered armors that challenged them. _This plan might work,_ he thought excitedly; he pulled the trigger on his flight stick and both arm lasers discharged, cutting through the torso of the powered armor which promptly vanished into a ball of fire. Three more came up behind it, however, and the Lightnings began to circle into a dogfight, "I get it, we're not done yet..."

—20:01 GST—

"Damn you protoculture!" Sarride took a second look at the tactical displays to confirm what she already knew. The GSDF was well out of range for visual targeting, and her recon fighters had no change any longer of getting close to their fleet. Some of her frontline warships were starting to return fire, but without spotters they were shooting blind and hopelessly. And with the GSDF in front, an even larger Zentradi fleet was surely moving up from behind, catching her in a pincer her fleet was very nearly out of ammo and her remaining combat mecha—barely a third of her original strength—were low on fuel and sorely in need of repairs. Retreat was her only option, but it was an option that gave the enemy a straight path all the way to Kaladan, and Lacul still needed time to arrange their counter attack. Then again, being defeated would have much the same effect unless Lazuli's ships could get there in time to give them a spot to fall back to. Sarride hated to be kept waiting, but Lazuli's fleet was four days late and the resupply ships were even later.

Another salvo of laser fire struck down on her from the darkness, burning against the ship's reflex barrier and sending vibrations through the hull. Three of the beams actually penetrated the barrier, and one of them hit the forward hull just in front of the command tower. A jet of molten flame belched into space from deep within her ship, and before she could even utter a complaint another salvo razed the hull of her ship, one direct hit even smashing into the side of her command tower. An instrument panel on the wall behind her exploded in electrical fire, and then half the monitors in the command center clouded over with static. "Damn it all! The Gallaron have stopped making mistakes..."

An image battled its way onto one of the static filled monitors, the face of one of the drone officers in the communications room further aft in the command tower. It looked as if most of the room was on fire behind the officer, but the vital systems were, fortunately, still intact. "Lady Sarride, incoming message from Commander Jinai."

"Decode it immediately! And let's just _pray_ it's not his usual banter." She switched on the main viewer on the bridge and waited for the signal to go through.

After a short moment, Jinai's face appeared on the monitor with the usual sullen look she had come to associate with him alone. He looked at the monitor image of her command center, smoldering and wrecked, smashed components and exhausted officers strewn about the room. It nothing more than a visual confirmation of what he already knew. "This just isn't your day, is it Sarride?"

"What do you want Jinai? I don't have time for your diversions right now..."

"I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd swing around and save your ungrateful ass from annihilation. I've just folded space to Rijuno-Delcaan, you think you can make it here in one jump?"

Sarride was impressed, partly with his good timing and partly with his great selection of hiding places. Rijuno-Delcaan was binary system containing a super-giant and a black hole, which in an area like the Arturo sector would be a pain in the ass to navigate around. Folding into the system was hard, folding out again was even harder, and keeping track of anything that went on in that system was next to impossible. That made it a perfect hiding place, a great fall back point, a spot where she could lick her wounds and replace her damaged and destroyed mecha and support vessels. Even as the though crossed her mind another, still more accurate salvo of laser fire from the Gallaron fleet pummeled her vessel, and one of the few working damage control monitors registered suddenly that the entire starboard side of the ship was in danger of explosive decompression. "I'm charging fold drives now," Her fingers flew over a control panel next to her chair, inputting the command to the navigation bridge, "My ship is hanging on by a thread. Do you have any supply ships so I can make emergency repairs?"

"No, but Lacul is gathering a large fleet here as a delaying tactic. You can probably cannibalize one of the older models."

Sarride scowled, "Another delaying tactic?"

"It can't be helped," Jinai said indifferently, "It would appear the Zentradi managed to get their hands on reaction weapons and now Bennet's asking for more time."

Sarride smiled. Fighting over Rijuno-Delcaan would probably slow them down by a few days or weeks, but it would slow the Supervision Army down at least as much. In any case, it was sure to drag things out long enough for conditions to change in their favor, and with alittle timing, a few miracles could be expected... "I need fold coordinates, I can't calculate that kind of transit in the middle of a battle."

"We're working on it, don't worry. It took our computers almost two hours to figure out how to get in here."

"I don't have two hours, we need to go now."

"Patience please, Sarride. I'll have your coordinates in a few min..." A sickening jolt rocked the command tower, and suddenly the monitor cracked and went blank. Sarride heard a strange wailing sound, coupled with the sound of bulkheads collapsing somewhere further aft of the command tower. She didn't even have to look at the damage control monitor to know that a lucky shot from the GSDF had knocked out her communications array. Now she was stranded, no way to get in touch with Jinai unless he could get a courier to her before the Gallaron fleet tore her to pieces. She couldn't call for help, nor could she recall her escorts in time to cover her retreat.

She was out of good options, all that remained was an act of desperation. "Navigation," She said stiffly, "Plot a short-range fold to Waypoint EG-10. Fold the ship immediately."

The navigation room responded instantly, "Commander, if we fold now the main fleet will be stranded here. Without official orders to retreat..."

"...they'll stay here and be slaughtered," Sarride said, "Better them than me. You have your orders, get us the hell out of here!"

"Yes, Commander."

There was a far off buzzing sound as the reaction furnaces powered up, and the deck began to vibrate as the fold drives powered up for her great escape. Even with this short-range jump it would take her a miracle to find her way to the rendezvous point at Rijuno-Delcaan; it was a longshot, but it was better than the alternative. "Sorry guys," She said, taking one last look at the external monitors, "You'll just have to take one for the team."

—20:04 GST—  
Captain Harper pulled another ice pack out of the freezer and replaced the one already on Shikari's face against the stitches underneath her eye. Getting micronized again had helped close some of the wounds without needing stitches, but not without first inducing alot of painful swelling around her body that promised to nag her well into the next several weeks. It probably would have been better to wait a few days for her wounds to heal before resizing again, but she didn't want to be stuck in the macron section while there was the possibility of the ship going into battle again. Instead, she resized herself, drained some of the fluid from the bulbs forming on her face and torso, then spent the next several days in and out of an ice-filled Jacuzzi while her body recovered.

She was finally down to a point where she could actually move around without using Matt as a crutch, but with little else to go as the Zentradi fleets formed up around her she spent most of her time relaxing in his quarters, rotating ice packs on the last painful holdouts on her face and neck. The relief from the new ice pack he had just given was a welcome one, and she sank back into the couch even more. "Thanks Matt..." she said, barely able to talk over the pain in her jaw.

"Any time. How's your tooth?"

Shikari shrugged. "Stopped hurting,"

"Then maybe now you can tell me, what the hell was the point of all that anyway?"

She smiled at him, tried to look innocent, "The point of what?"

"You just sat there and let her beat you into the ground. You know if she'd been sober, she might have killed you."

"It was a risk I had to take." She said stiffly. Something in her voice indicated to him a hidden irony in her voice, "I didn't notice she was THAT drunk at the time, but by loosing her temper like that she left herself with a debt."

That probably made the least amount of sense of anything Matt had seen or heard in the last four and a half days. "Debt?"

"That's conduct unbecoming an officer. It's her responsibility to make it up to me and present herself like a line officer, even though we both know that's not her style."

"Yeah? And what IS her style?"

Shikari set down the ice pack and leaned back again. "Do you remember Kamjin Kravshera? Tiamat's the same way, only she's alot more patient."

Matt's stomach started to churn. "That's just what we needed! A warlord maniac with a macronized ego!"

"Don't look down on warlord maniacs," she said playfully, "Tiamat has a longstanding reputation on the frontiers. She's infamous in the Magellanic clusters, which are basically the badlands of the universe. They say it took her two and a half years just to move her fleet into this galaxy, and when she arrived the first thing she did was assassinate the commander of a Meltrandi scout division and assume command of it. She pretty much does that about every two years, she tracks down some high-profile Meltrandi division, assassinates the commanding and takes control."

Matt sighed from across the room. "Sounds like she wants to build some kind of empire. Charming woman." He patted the side of Shikari's face again and noticed the puffiness had gone down a bit. "You're a fast healer!"

"When I'm stimulated." She said coyly. "I'm not still bleeding am I?"

Harper came over to her side and looked at her face closely. "The cuts closed up in the tank. They're just swollen now, and you'll probably have a black eye for a few days."

"Oh no! Now you won't think I'm pretty!"

Harper leaned down and kissed her, careful not to brush on her bruises too much. "I think you're beautiful! Even with _two_ black eyes!" He kissed her again, but this time she pushed him away. "What?"

"I'm sorry, but... Matt I can't do this anymore."

Matt's chest tightened. "Do what?"

"I mean, It's not your fault..." Shikari put the ice pack down and moved over on the couch, making room for him to sit down. "...or maybe it is. Sometimes, we go out, we have fun, we enjoy ourselves and you make me feel so special inside, but at the end of the day... Look, we're coasting. I feel like we're in a rut and I think we're long overdue for something a bit more serious. I mean, we can't just sneak around having sex all the time, that's not a real relationship…"

"You mean... oh." It never ceased to amaze him what a fast learner she was. It seemed like her social awareness had gone from schoolgirl to modern woman in six months flat, on the other hand he knew the almost comical innocence he had come to admire in her was still intact somewhere down below. Admittedly, it wasn't at all hard to think of spending the rest of his life with her, being true to her and remaining ever loyal forever. But still there was the notion of caution, the knowledge that one day they would probably get tired of each other or else something better would come along; everything he knew about life told him it would be a mistake to drop out of the game now and settle for Shikari once and for all. He still needed more time, but unless he said something in the next thirty seconds... "Is _that_ all that's bothering you?" He said coolly.

"Pretty much." Shikari looked down at her feet shyly. "Don't get me wrong, I would never think of loosing what we have together, but I'd like to think we're actually going somewhere with this. Don't you feel like we… like maybe we were meant for each other?"

"Don't you?"

She thought about it briefly. "Yeah but..."

"Then let's get married."

Shikari's jaw dropped open. "What!"

"I don't mean now, just maybe some time soon like… like maybe once things calm down and the war ends and we really have some time to ourselves. We'd find a nice quiet place to just live out the rest of our lives, just you and me."

"But are you… you don't think this is too soon for you?" She said nervously. "You shouldn't make a decision unless you know for sure…"

"All I know… all I need to know is that I love you very much and I want you in my life. What more do we need to know?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mean for you to…" She gave it a second thought and realized suddenly that she hadn't expected much else from him other than some clue that he was at least thinking about it. Now it dawned on her that this was in fact exactly what she wanted, this was the climax of everything she had come to understand about human relationships. "You're right. That's really all we need isn't it?"

"Well… there's one other thing."

"What?"

"Miso ramen."

Shikari smiled broadly. "My place, tomorrow night."

Harper smiled back, patting himself on the back for his quick thinking. "I'll bring a bottle of Kyshien for us."

—24:09 GST—  
Skull Squadron appeared on the outer monitors, as usual, with all thirteen of its planes in formation, not even a single loss. Behind them, more than two hundred VFs from just the Monitor's contingent were on route back to the ship, as were the hundreds of fighters from other ships around the fleet. There were fewer fighters than in previous years; most of the Zentradi Thuveral Salan class cruisers had been phased out for the smaller, more efficient Thor-class destroyers. Misa's fleet alone had ten of them, with a dozen Zentradi picket ships forming a defensive ring around their main body. Far ahead, into the distance, she could just make out the shapes of the Supervision Army pickets as the Monitor began to approach the perimeter of the enemy fleet—that is, the remains of the enemy fleet.

"It's sickening," She muttered, watching the display images on the main viewer in front of the command bridge. The final count had been tallied at last: thirty cruisers, fifty destroyers, and nearly a three hundred tankers, frigates and other support craft, totaling just over four hundred and twenty Supervision Army warships. Every last one of them was now a floating hulk, hanging in space like mangled corpses. Most of them had been hit by GSDF gunners from distances so far they never even had a chance to shoot back. This new tactic was no longer one of Misa's late-night musings, far from an experimental concept in a young woman's brain. Now it was a harsh brutal reality, a recipe for massacre that could leave few survivors. "It's sickening," she muttered again; the number of ships they had devastated was easy to cope with, but not the number of souls aboard those ships: all told, just short of three million soldiers of the Supervision Army had lost their lives in four days of battle. "Commander Gashi," She said tiredly, "Spin up the mobile infantry units. We need to clear the debris field of any possible booby traps."

"Yes, Admiral." Gashi put the orders into this control panel, but then looked up and reported, "Zentradi fleet approaching from port, four thousand kilometers. Battleship Herokan in the lead."

"Give my regards to Herokan for a job well done." Misa sagged in her chair. She felt drained by it all, as if she could no longer go on. As of late she had been grappling with a terrifying reality, even now unsure of how history would pass judgment on their conduct in this war. Would they understand the difficulties faced by the GSDF, the lack of options presented to them? Would they realize that Gallaron's very survival was at stake and excuse this behavior? Would the Supervision War be remembered as a prolonged campaign of genocide? Or would the authors of the history books even notice at all, in a world where every space war counted its dead in billions? All possibilities made her chest tighten around her heart. Even at this very moment she felt as if her heart were about to stop beating entirely.

She was not now aware of it, nor would she ever be aware of it in the future, but here on the bridge of SDF-04, Misa Hayase suffered brief and very mild heart attack.

"Admiral, incoming message from..." Commander Gashi glanced over his shoulder, seeing a strange expression on her face unlike any he had ever seen. "Are you okay, Misa?"

With a trembling hand she wiped the sweat from her face and took a long, slow breath. "I'm fine," She said, then stood up stretched her back. "Just a tired. Don't worry about it."

Gashi nodded, and turned back to his console, "Sir, one of our sensor drones has picked up a gravitational anomaly close to one of the outer planets. It's definitely a fold reaction, signature suggests battleship class."

"That must be the command ship that skipped out of the fight." Misa wiped her eyes again and said, "How soon can we finish cleanup operations here?"

Gashi punched up a checklist on one of his overhead monitors, then frowned, "At least twelve hours. Probably more."

"No chance of pursuit, then?"

Lieutenant Gorath looked up from her console, "Not from us, Admiral, but SDF-Victory is on route to join us. ETA, four hours and seventeen minutes."

To Misa, the solution was simply academic. "Relay our tactical data to Captain Elensh via courier. Tell them to skip the rendezvous and pursue that command ship instead."


	17. Chapter 16: The Collapsible Front

****

Chapter 16: The Collapsible Front

—August16, 2018—  
—11:25 GST—  
"Pass on this review to Alpha Factory," Captain Elensh said to the fuzzy image on her monitor, "that the goods have been received and are greatly appreciated."

The courier pilot nodded in understanding, then without even closing the channel, the small fold-capable shuttle disappeared into a rift of hyperspace, speeding out of the system in the direction of Gallaron. Captain Elensh's "goods" hovered alongside the Victory now, lined up in review formation before actually heading out into combat. Twelve Thor class destroyers and twenty ARMD class escort carriers, replacing the nearly two dozen Zentradi picket ships as the battle group's primary defense line. But along with them, two other curiosities: a pair of Zjendiel-class destroyers, flying side by side in the front of the formation, still in cruiser mode and shining in the pale light of Rijuno-Delcaan's red giant. Having passed her review, all thirty of Victory's support ships now spread out around it, forming their defensive shell around them in accordance with Admiral Hayase's innovative new battleplan.

"It doesn't seem like it would work," Commander Gouraz said absently, "I mean, with the formation we'll be flying the next closest ship will be a spec in the distance. How are we supposed to cover each other spread out like that?"

Elensh sighed, "As the Admiral explained it, it has something to do with defensive response time. With the scouts and pickets hanging out at maximum range, they can give advanced warning of enemy fighters or ships approaching the main group long before they come into firing range. It gives us more time to evaluate the threat and figure out how to handle it. Then, if we need to, we have more time to maneuver for a most effective counter attack."

Mia thought about it for a moment, then said, "How would that help is in a swarm attack? If they sent a couple divisions of battlepods on a beeline, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"They tried that," Imura said, "According to Hayase, the enemy fleet tried a wave attack with about four divisions through what they perceived was a gap in the defensive line. The advanced scouts picked up the attack almost twenty minutes before it would have come into range of the capital ships. They counter attacked and cut them to pieces before they could even get within sight of the Monitor."

Mia groaned, "I still think it's not going to work."

"Have a little faith in Misa. It wouldn't be the first time one of her goofy ideas turned into a stroke of genius."

"I hope you're right..." Mia watched the remainder of their fleet drift away into the darkness, spreading out in their formation with gap between the main body of ships of almost a thousand thousand miles. When the formation was fully extended, their small fleet would be spread out over an area the size of a small planet.

"Contact on sensors," Lieutenant Merrick reported from the tactical console, "Gravity wave signature. Enemy defold, forty million kilometers. Energy signature confirms it as the command ship the Monitor reported."

"Right were we expected her to be." Imura said cynically, "Where are they headed?"

Merrick looked at the data for a moment, then frowned, "It's on a direct course for the accretion disk."

"Are you certain?" Imura couldn't help but shoot a glance at the little glowing disk off in the distance, close to the center of the star system. "That uh... that looks like fun."

"You're not actually going to go close to that thing, are you Captain?" Mia turned around, her face pale, "Because... I mean..."

Imura hesitated at first, then gathered her courage and said, "If that's where the enemy's going, that's where we go as well."

Mia's face turned just a shade below being truly grey, "C-Captain, you know about b-black holes, right?"

She knew where this was going, and despite her own disposition it made her nervous as well, "C'mon, Mia, those are just ancient legends. Don't tell me you believe it?"

"We believe the old battle records, don't we? Why not the Varcans?"

"How do you know the Varcans ever existed in the first place? Those reports are probably just old myths made up by bored infantry to pass the time."

"So how did they get into the archives then? I'm telling you, the Varcans were _real_!"

"Uh..." Lieutenant Merrick turned around slowly, "Captain, is there something I should maybe know about all this?"

Imura shrugged, trying her best not to look as nervous as she felt, "There's an old Zentradi legend about Juna—an old war goddess—defeating an Archon beast near the edge of a black hole. But she strayed to close, and a demon called Sybulla attacked her and dragged into the event horizon and nailed her hands and feet to an asteroid. In exchange for her freedom, Juna..." Imura chuckled, "It's a silly myth, I know, but this demon, apparently..."

"He asked for a sacrifice," Mia finished fearfully, "Juna offered him the strongest and most graceful from among her crew. He took fifty of her women, cooked them, and ate them. Another version says that he crawled inside them through their rectums and ate them from the inside out. Still another legend says he planted beasts in their stomachs and they devoured their insides, then used their bodies like hosts and that some of those beasts still wander around the galaxy looking for new hosts. And you know what, after we met the Microns some Meltrandi archivists started to suspect that Sybulla was probably some kind of rapist, so micron women aren't safe from him either, Sue!"

"Uh..." Merrick stared at Mia for a moment in disbelief, then at Imura, seeking a less bizarre explanation.

"It's just a myth," Imura said, "I mean it's scientifically impossible to escape from a black hole, goddess or no goddess. And how can you be nailed to an asteroid without asphyxiating? It just can't happen."

"Well..." thinking quickly, the young tactical officer said, "You know, Earth sensor algorithms have had some success tracking... er... apparitions or demons or what have you. With our dispersed formation I can pretty much guarantee you we'll know at least an hour in advanced if that Sybulla guy happens to be hiding in that black hole."

The color slowly returned to Mia's face, "Are you sure about that, Sue?"

"As sure as the nose on your face, Commander."

This seemed to put her at ease a bit, but another look at the black hole spinning in the distance still made her nervous, "You wouldn't feed _me_ to a demon, would you Imura?"

She was about to answer, but a flashling light on her own pannel caught her attention, indicating that the fleet was in position. "It's time. Mia, tell the navigation bridge put in an intercept course for that command ship."

"Yes, Sir," she send the orders, then repeated, "But seriously, _would_ you?"

Imura grinned, "Absolutely not."

"Really? You mean that?"

"Of course. If I feed you to a space demon, who would wrestle the Luron monsters of Haifa-Cati?"

Growling, Mia focused back on her duties, muttering to herself in annoyance.

—31:50 GST—  
Kai Chan flipped to the next page of the report, stroking his chin in thought at the new data and all the possible uses for it. His own squadron was to thank for most of this information even existing, and with any luck there would be more to add. By now they had categorized three varieties of picket ships, four types of destroyers, and four distinct types of cruisers both heavy and light, each serving various mission roles within the supervision fleet. They came in all different shapes and sizes, varieties of firepower and defensive capabilities. Kai Chan couldn't help but notice that some of these warship designs could have found a great deal of use in the GSDF—others, he knew, already had for the Parankazu and some of the other isolated protoculture bands they had run across from time to time. The booklet was almost a hundred pages long, and every page had detailed information about the strengths and weaknesses of every design.

Kai Chan was determined to memorize them all.

"I'm a little disappointed, Skipper," Beecher said from somewhere behind him.

Kai Chan asked without looking up from the intelligence report, "You were _born_ disappointed."

"I mean these new fighters," She sat down on the bench next to him and glanced passively at the report over his shoulder, "Some upgrades... judging by the specs and even their performance they're just glorified Valkyries."

This time Kai Chan looked up, studying the sleek contours of the new planes that had been flying in combat for only a few weeks by now. It was similar to the Valkyrie, albeit more streamlined and plush within its own parts, less like a variable fighter and more like the old fashion fixed-wings of Old Earth. He was tempted to pass the same judgment on the VFX-12s, but somehow he hesitated to do so. "Give it some time. We're still just getting used to them, remember?"

"Yeah, but..."

The growl engine noise caught their attention, the low familiar hum of a munitions trolley as it made its way across the hangar and snuggled up against the side one of the VFX-12s. On command from the mechanics the fighter's wings opened from their swept position and spread to the sides, and without missing a beat the mechanics lifted an armored blast cover off the top of the trolley. Something massive rose from the bed of the trolley on a rail until it gently slid into position on the fighter's wing hardpoint, then the mechanics locked it into place and the rails retracted. The trolley drove off again in the direction of the hangar's munitions stores, but even as it did, three others came from the same direction for the same fighter, and behind them a dozen others for the first of the experimental fighters.

"What's all this about?" Beecher asked.

Kai Chan looked around for a moment and located the nearest technical officer, then lunged across the deck and grabbed him by the collar in mid stride, "Do we have a sortie? What's going on?"

The technician grinned like a wolf, "Captain Elensh wants you on the front when we go after that battleship. We're testing your full load in combat for the first time."

"What are you talking about? Full load?" Kai Chan looked past the technician to the new weapons being loaded onto his squadron's hardpoints. Just from looking at them, their purpose was not immediately clear, "What are those? Extra fuel tanks?"

The technician laughed, "As if! What you're looking at, Major, is the next big thing in anti-ship weaponry, the XASM-405 extreme range hyper velocity cruise missile!" The technician declared it with a note of pride and elation, then stood there for a few seconds and waited for Kai Chan and Beecher to share his pride. Instead they just stared at him blankly; feeling suddenly self conscious, he explained, "They're ship-wreckers, major. We call them 'Sandbox'"

"Those things?" Kai Chan looked past him again, "So they're... what, super-sized reaction missiles?"

"They're not _reaction_ missiles at all. A single variable fighter costs as much as _four_ reaction missiles, and then most of that cost is from processing nuclear fuel." The last of the trolleys delivered the weapons to Kai Chan's fighter, and the technician walked towards it and gestured for them to follow, "The Sandbox contains a more conventional, compressed energy proton warhead. Although not as powerful in a general sense as a powerful reaction warhead, the amount of damage they can inflict is far greater. The explosive charge is relatively small, but it triggers this surge of anti-protons so that any metallic object within the blast radius turns into a superheated plasma. The secondary effect are these crazy electromagnetic waves that can shatter bulkheads, scramble reactor settings, turns anything electronic in a flame thrower. It's really one nasty little weapon."

"Mass destruction down to an exact science," Kai Chan muttered.

Beecher frowned, "So they're phasing out reaction missiles?"

"Not really. If you're an escort carrier up against anything bigger than a Phoenix class, reaction missiles are your best option. But for the fighters and bombers in the fleet, long range precision attacks with standoff weapons are crucial. If you can get one of these babies into their reaction furnace or main engine pyle, we wouldn't even _need_ to destroy it."

"They look expensive," Beecher stared at the oversized device on the wing thoughtfully, "Nice and high tech... I assume you've tested these under battlefield conditions?"

"A few times."

"So how do they feature?"

"Afterburning impulse drive for propulsion with a navigational A.I. with full self-guidance capability, so even if they miss the target, they still come back around and attack and keep attacking until they score a hit. We tested their strike range up to about thirty thousand kilometers or more... we're talking _battleship_ ranges, know what I mean? _Optimal_ range, of course, will be much shorter, but it's still more than you got with the old blockbusters..."

Kai Chan glanced at him quizzically, "And you say these less expensive than a simple reaction missile?"

"Oh, definately. With the war effort they're keeping the prices at a minimum, but you can still get a single RMS-1 for the price of _ten_ of these babies."

Beecher frowned, "It's not really worth it if they can't destroy their targets..."

"Precision strikes, you say?" The gears in Kai Chan's head suddenly started to turn, "And self guiding?"

The technician nodded. "You don't really even have to lock on. Just point em in the right direction and they can _find_ their target."

Kai Chan flipped open the intelligence report again. An idea was forming in his head, and if this technician wanted to see how his new toys worked in combat, Kai Chan would give him the perfect opportunity. "Jessie, get the squad together in the briefing room. I've got an idea."

—August 17, 2018—  
—02:31 GST—  
Bennet watched the tactical displays with a sense of foreboding. The Zentradi were only too willing to follow Sarron's ships deeper and deeper into the sector as they pulled back to Bokata, but with the way things had changed recently he was no longer sure if that was a good thing. Kong had reported from the rear line that they were encountering more and more Zentradi ships armed with reaction weapons, and though they were clearly unaccustomed to using such devices they were certainly learning fast. He had lost eleven hundred ships in just the last week alone and Sarron had lost at least three times that number in heated battles, now all fronts were sending the news that the Zentradi were overpowering them by sheer numbers alone. His plan didn't seem to make sense anymore, and somehow he knew he had Misa Hayase to thank for all this… "Admiral Bennet," Sarron entered the control room of his battleship, alittle frustrated to have been called back from the front on such a menial assignment. "The scoutships have finished their sweeps, sir. We have the data you requested."

"Show me," Bennet took the papers from Sarron's hand and looked over the data boredly. It was just one of his little pet theories meant to cover his ass in the event of a plan that could and probably would backfire, and though he didn't expect it to work he wasn't about to be caught without some kind of contingency plan. "Bokata-Delcaan," He said, reading the title. "Class-II red giant... internal mass in the upper 81st percentile of the sector, that's good... mass-volume ratio 47.3, also good… what's this? Irregular convection currents?"

"That's what the computer said. I have no idea what it means though."

"Well it's interesting is all... composition, 62 helium, 19 Lithium-hydroxide, indications of compressed… no way!" Bennet looked at the information in the sheet more closely and re-read the printouts. "Sarron, are you sure this is accurate?"

"The computer's never been wrong before. Why?" Sarron said, leaning lazily against the wall next to Bennet.

"If this data's correct, then the core would have to be... That _has_ to be a mistake…"

"And what if it's not?" Sarron said, trying to drag up some clue from Bennet. "This system hasn't made an error in over twelve thousand years. It's accurate, I'm sure of it."

Bennet looked at the data again, then tossed the whole pack of papers over his shoulder and broke out in laughter. "Unbelievable! We've had the ultimate weapon sitting right here in front of us and we never knew it!"

Sarron hadn't followed Bennet's plans from the beginning and by this time he had completely given up. Kong had buried all four of Bennet's fold weapons in caverns far below the innermost planet of the system and at Bennet's request he had ordered all of his ships to begin carefully retreating back to Bokata. He had not been told the reason for any of this, he had only been given an assurance that it would be a "grand achievement" for the army. In this case, however, he would prefer not to wait. "Admiral Bennet, I don't suppose you're planning to share this big plan of yours with the rest of us?"

"You're right, I'm not." Bennet said, chuckling again. "Just sit tight and do exactly what I say and I'll give you a fireworks show like the universe has never seen. We can get rid of the Zentradi in just one attack, and all it will take are four fold weapons and a little diversion tactic to make sure they don't run away."

Sarron was annoyed, but in no mood right now to drag the info out of him. Instead, he preferred to let Bennet make a fool out of himself and pick up the pieces himself later on. "As you wish Admiral, just give the word…"

"Also, I suggest you set aside at least half of your fleet for decoy operations and evacuate their crews and mecha compliments. You should also start picking out some asteroids in this system and get to work fashioning one into a likeness of Lacul's fortress."

Sarron was more interested now. It almost sounded as if Bennet actually knew what he was doing. "A dummy fleet sir?"

"Just large enough so that the Zentradi don't try and leave the system once they realize what's going on. Also, you should place them in orbit of the planet closest to Bokata and try to make it look like they're trying to use the star to hide themselves. We need the Zentradi to be as close to the star as possible when the time comes. Of course it's inevitable that many of them will escape unharmed, but at least it will remove the Zentradi as a significant threat."

Sarron was a bit more confident, and now he followed his lead. "Should we take steps to bring more Zentradi in on this one?"

"As many as possible, the more the better! Trust me Sarron, this will be the finest hour of our empire! Go now, make preparations. We don't have much time!"

"Yes sir." Sarron saluted and walked out of the control room to send out the orders. Whatever it was Bennet was planning to do, he could only hope and pray the fool knew what he was doing.

—02:11 GST—  
Lieutenant Beecher's sensors chimed a gentle warning, and a series of indicators lit up on the canopy, identifying the approaching mecha. She counted their numbers and confirmed the IFF codes before breaking radio silence, "Skipper I've got the Zentradi squadron on radar, moving in to join us."

Kai Chan spotted them as well, and rolling his fighter slightly on its side, he zoomed in to confirm visually with the sensors in the fighter's head, "That's affirmative, about two hundred battlepods and two scout ships. That should make a nice tasty diversion."

Far up ahead of them, the battleship the Victory had tailed into this system had picked up some company. A large super-dreadnaught command vessel had pulled up alongside, and with it a support fleet of at least two hundred ships that were now moving into an escort formation around them. All at once, Kai Chan felt a strange sense of admiration for the young technician and the four 'sandbox' missiles he had slung under his wings. With the Supervision fleet setup as it was, any approach closer than a thousand kilometers was effectively a death trap. These new missiles had over twenty times that range.

Then Beecher called in again, reminding him of the need for the Zentradi diversion, "I've got enemy fighters on scanner, maximum range. They're on an intercept course and closing in fast."

"What's our range to the target?" Kai Chan said.

"Twenty thousand kilometers."

"Alright," He plotted his course on the navigational computer, and aimed his nose towards the enemy fleet. This, he knew, would be quite an adventure. "Split up to your firing positions and kill your radars. Setup your datalink at fifteen thousand and release weapons on my command."

"Are you sure about this, Kai?" Aziz said anxiously, "These fighters aren't very maneuverable with the slugs under the wings. If you get spotted out there..."

"Follow your orders, Lieutenant. I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so." The eleven fighters broke away from him now, split up into different positions spaced out across hundreds of miles until they could no longer see each other. Kai Chan himself slammed is throttles forward and kicked in the afterburners. He reached peak acceleration at almost the same time the enemy battlepods showed up in his HUD displays. The distance between them diminished and continued to close until he could almost see the shapes of the enemy mecha against the faint glow of red giant in the distance.

All of the Supervision battlepods opened fire as one, and a strange coincidence, the Zentradi battlepods further behind Kai Chan's fighter did exactly the same. A storm of missiles and plasma beams criss-crossed in space, then a galaxy of explosions flashed into existence. Kai Chan found himself winding through the chaos with white knuckles, his heart pounding in his chest... then he passed the first of the enemy pods and raced through their formation at break-neck speeds. Some of them took shots at him as he passed, others ignored him completely, but the majority of them were focused on the attacking Zentradi, exactly as they should have.

When he was finally through them, his canopy lit up like a christmas tree. A galaxy of red boxes and warning lines displaying hundreds or perhaps even thousands of enemy pods in space around him, at distances ranging from a thousand kilometers to a few hundred meters. Some of the pods from their counter-attack had even turned around to follow him, and now a few bursts of plasma fire zipped past him above and below. His navigation screen counted off the distance from the enemy ships; he happened to glance at the screen just before the counter passed twelve thousand kilometers. "Zero One to strikers, begin datalink!" More pods came into range in front of him as his computer connected with the fire control systems of the other eleven fighters. He began dodging left and right on his path as enemy guns grew more accurate; suddenly he realized that the Zentradi diversionary attack wouldn't help him any longer. At least a hundred pods were gunning for him now, and a low-pulse tone in his headset warned him that at least three variable powered armors were trying to lock on from behind. "Jesus... this is insane! I'm..." A high pitched electronic scream filled his ears, the audio warning of an enemy missile launch. He managed one glance over his shoulder to see four variable powered armors hovering on his tail, and a sky full of missiles closing in for the kill. "Time to test out this new bird!"

He flipped a switch on his throttle and the internal missile bays on the sides of his engine nacelles opened. Each bay released six mini-missiles into space behind him that spread out in a pre-programmed pattern. All twelve exploded in the face of the enemy missiles, then Kai Chan began twisting his fighter in space like a mad man to avoid the rest. As others closed in he released a small pod from the tail slot that burst an instant after release and scattered a cloud of metal fragments into space. Several of the missiles behind him detonated in the debris, and with a few sharp moves Kai Chan shrugged off the ones that made it through. But the VPA's behind him remained undaunted, and another warning pulse indicated they were about to fire again.

He glanced at the navigation screen; six thousand kilometers from the target. Now was as good a time as any. "Zero One to all strikers, fire on my command!" He stopped dodging just long enough to point his nose at the enemy fleet and switched his radar to hunting mode. It took two seconds for the computer to identify the targets, and only a microsecond to relay its coordinates to the other eleven planes hanging back thousands of kilometers behind him. Kai Chan tapped a short command on his keypad, then as another high pitched missile warning filled his ears he shouted, "Bombs away!"

The four sandbox missiles under his wings dropped away, then fired up their obscenely powerful engines and shot forward towards the enemy fleet. Kai Chan banked hard to the left, as hard as the plane would turn; too late he realized that the fighter had become much more maneuverable without its heavy missiles, and suddenly he found himself pinned against his seat with the force of ten gravities pressing on his chest. His fighter went into a spin, out of control and out of weapons. Kai Chan desperately shoved the controls, trying to get back onto his escape course, and as his fighter tumbled in space he could see with every revolution a storm of missiles closing in for the kill. _Hot damn, _ he thought, finally getting the fighter back under control, _This thing's got a hell of a turn rate..._

—02:17 GST—  
Sarride walked through the hatch into Jinai's command center, noting a bit of elevated activity that seemed somehow out of place. Jinai, as usual, was sitting in his chair lost in thought, while his command officers were either directing some urgent activity or sitting motionless, spaced out, awaiting someone's orders. "I've come to report, Jinai," She said passively, then looked around again, "What's going on?"

"Some raiders on the outer marker. Nothing to be concerned about."

Sarride grunted, then approached his seat and handed him a small computer unit with the information already displayed on its tiny screen, "They're using a new tactic, some new formation. They keep their fleet spread out over a terribly large area beyond the missile range of any fighter."

Jinai read the first bits of the report and chuckled, "That's ridiculous. We could send the whole fleet right up the middle and blow their command ship out of the sky."

"That's not the end of it, Jinai. This formation is part of a new combat style. Somehow they've found a way to improve the accuracy of their weapons over extremely long ranges. We don't know how they're doing it, but they can target us from well beyond the effective range of our targeting scanners."

"I imagine they must have developed better sensors. We'll just have to capture one of their ships."

"I thought so as well, Jinai, but..."

A proximity alarm in the command center started wailing, and one of Jinai's radar officer called out a warning, "Incoming missiles. Speed, thirty-five relative. Ten seconds to impact."

Jinai scratched an itch on his neck, then said to, "Oh my... Sarride, I hope you didn't leave anything valuable on your ship."

Sarride caught his meaning, and in a moment of horror, ran to one of the control panels and opened a holographic window, showing the image of her flagship alongside of them now. Four tiny points of light were closing in from the distance, and as the seconds ticked off, all four of them slammed into the hull of her ship at amazing speeds, exploding deep within the hull before punching their way out again on the other side in a spray of fire and molten metal. All four missiles hit the ship at its most vulnerable positions; one hit the main engines, one the main reaction furnace, and two others hit the capacitors for the ship's main cannon. The the blast from the warheads alone gutted her battleship, then secondary explosions ripped open bulkheads and sections of armor plating in the hull. Only then did the damaged components of the ship join in the destruction, all at once, and Sarride watched the battleship disintegrate in flames from the inside out. "Just my luck," She said tiredly.

"Indeed," Jinai glanced over his shoulder at his radar officer, "Where are they shooting from?"

"No reaction from sensors, and no positive radar spikes. If those were launched by warships, they're probably hiding in the shadow of the second planet, just beyond firing range."

Sarride turned around and grinned at Jinai, "I told you, they're using some kind of trick. I don't know how they do it, but they can hit our ships from distances that make it impossible to fire back."

"I'm not convinced that's the case. If those were capital ships they would have used reaction missiles. Why would they use conventional warheads for that?"

"No conventional weapon does _that_ much damage. And what else could have fired those missiles? No fighter-launched weapon can move at those speeds..."

"Incoming missiles." The radar officer called again, "Speed, thirty-nine relative. Twelve seconds to impact."

This time, Jinai stood up from his chair, visibly anxious, "How many this time? What's their trajectory!"

"Forty four missiles, varying trajectory. Seven of them are locked on to this ship. Five seconds to impact."

Jinai took a deep breath, then sat back down. "Sarride, you might want to grab a hold of something."

The barrage of missiles slammed into the hull of Jinai's command ship at nearly twenty kilometers per second. In the first impacts, four of the missiles sliced right through the outer shell of Jinai's starboard hull as if it were made of paper, and detonated deep within the ship. A jet of white-hot plasma erupted through the other end, punching a hole in the vessel large enough to fit a heavy cruiser inside. Around the impact point, a dozen types of shockwaves ran wild within the hull, smashing bulkheads and triggering secondary explosions, a chain reaction that that just kept building. In just a matter of seconds a section of the hull almost a thousand meters long shattered and fell away from the command ship. The other missiles impacted just moments later, two through the port hull, and the last through the primary hull that joined the two at the center of the horseshoe-shaped vessel. The ship rocked violently as pandemonium broke loose within, filling its inner spaces with racing curtains of flame and electromagnetic chaos.

The other missiles pounded the capital ships of Jinai's fleet seemingly all at once. Several of them hit the cruisers alongside from at least three different angles. Two cruisers were blown completely in half by the strange warheads, others took strikes in vulnerable areas and began to collapse from secondary damage. The barrage continued for just twenty seconds, a medley of impacts and explosions as brief as it was devastating.

When it was over, Jinai wiped his eyes as he stared through the smoke-filled command center at the grainy image on the monitor in front of him. His command ship was still intact and there was no immediate danger of loosing it, but around them, sixteen of his heavy cruisers were burning in space— and then only the few of them still had any atmosphere to burn. Before his very eyes, three of them exploded from the inside as their reaction furnaces lost containment. He did a quick count of his forces and the numbers of ships remaining, and found with a pulse of irritation that the Gallaron attack had rendered half of his most powerful ships utterly useless. "Radar," He said slowly, "Any more incoming?"

"Sensors show no incoming, Sir."

Jinai turned to Sarride, still holding on to the side of one of the control panels in anticipation of a second wave. "I don't understand it. If they'd used reaction missiles they could have destroyed us."

"They don't need to destroy us if we haven't the power to fight back. Don't you get it, Jinai? They used conventional warheads to inflict more damage on vital areas of the ship. Reaction missiles just aren't that precise, which means they're easier to defend against."

"I guess even that lost technology only got us so far..." There was something wonderfully ironic about all this, something Jinai could grasp readily without much coaxing. _It's not enough to have the secrets of protoculture. Gallaron also inherited their genius._ A new warning alarm flashed on the monitor in front of Sarride, and this time she put the data on the main screen before the radar officers could report it. "Seems we have company."

Jinai looked at the data for a moment, then folded his arms and laughed, "A defold reaction just short of a half a million marks. Their timing couldn't be better."

"Then we're outflanked," Sarride sighed, "That enemy fleet that chased me in here is closing from the opposite direction. And if you would look at your damage control board I think you'll find that most of your primary weapons are offline. I think we should retreat while we still can."

"You _would_ say something like that," Jinai sat back down in his chair and folded his arms, back into his usual relaxed demeanor despite the smoke-filled command center around him, "As the Gallaron are known to say, 'it aint over till the fat lady sings.'"

Sarride looked at him, puzzled, "What does that mean?"

"It means go below decks and get something to eat. I'll call for you if I need anything."

She tried to think of something—anything—that might benefit Jinai in this situation, keep him from making what she was very sure would be a horrid tactical mistake. But she knew him better than that; when he made up his mind about something he never changed. Disappointed, Sarride walked out of the command center to the lower decks as Jinai brooded over the state of his damaged command ship. Where normally he found himself thinking of new tactical scenarios and possible counter attacks, today for the first time, the only thing he could think or feel was a sense of admiration for his current foe. "First time in twelve centuries," He said, thinking out loud, "I finally face someone who comes up with _new_ ideas."

—09:40 GST—  
The delaying tactic had served its purpose, and apparently it had bought Bennet the time he needed to setup his little stunt. The Gallaron forces couldn't push through Lacul's defensive lines as quickly as before, even with their Zentradi allies, thanks to the enormous effect of the black hole's tidal forces twisting the space around it. It was like fighting a war on an ocean of wet cement, it slowed everything down and made movement difficult and exhausting, but at the same time if gave both of them time to regroup. Kraken's command ship was at one end of a collapsing battle front while Jinai was on the other at Rijuno Delcaan. It was a battle he knew he was over before it began, but he also knew that it would take the Gallaron fleet at least a week to clear out his mine fields and make the jump to the next system. He knew he would loose many ships before this was over, in fact Kraken was sure this would be one of the costliest diversions in the history of the Supervision Army, but if Bennet could pull off his miracle he assured everyone it would all be worth it. They were gambling their last scraps with a shaky hand and if they didn't play their cards right it would all be over for them.

Kraken had taken this to be a kind of rest break for himself and his armies, but nearly halfway through the retreat his officers reported intermittent contact from an unknown ship edge the edge of communications range. Worried that it might perhaps be a distressed courier ship, Kraken kept his channel open on that frequency almost all day and all night, and on the third day when the signal finally came through, he greeted the face of his all time favorite adversary. "General Shikari Raskanos, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I want answers Kraken." She said grimly, her face still slightly bruised from her fight with Tiamat. "What the hell is happening with your fleet? Why are you retreating on all fronts and giving up tactical position? You know you're boxing yourself in and giving up too much ground."

Kraken knew it better than most. Being one of the three beings in the entire Supervision Army who could still think for himself, he had made it a point to keep track of just how vulnerable their position really was. "What's your point Shikari? Lacul has supreme command of our fleet, I don't give the orders, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"But I want to know _why_. Didn't you tell that the only thing the Supervision Army needed was good tacticians? We both know _you're_ good, so what went wrong?"

Kraken figured there was no harm to be done in leveling with her, in fact it might actually help his position in the long run. "One of your former comrades, a human named Samuel Bennet, has devised some harebrained scheme that's supposed to bring the war to a swift and brutal end. No one knows what he's up to, but it involves gathering all of our ships in one place and fighting some massive engagement in front of our own bases. Lacul is betting everything riding on his little scheme. He doesn't seem to realize that Bennet is a fool who doesn't know what he's doing."

"And you have no idea what his secret plan is?"

"I know only that it's not worth my time. In fact, in the past three months I've been seriously considering for the first time going off on my own. Maybe I should just slip away with a small fleet and follow my own whims for a change. If it came to that, do you think you'd like to join me? Or would you instead choose to end our rivalry once and for all?"

Shikari shook her head. "I rather enjoy our little jousts, Kraken. I think I'd prefer it if you joined forces with Gallaron so we could continue our battles in a more… relaxed setting."

Kraken snickered. "A powered armor is my idea of relaxing, Shikari. Besides, I think I'd rather go down fighting with the others. And at this point I think it obvious that you are the only one in Gallaron who could finish me."

"That's probably true."

"I'll be waiting for you at Kaladan. If this is to be the last battle of our long fought war, let's make it a battle worth remembering."

Shikari smiled. "Agreed. Fight well, Kraken. I'll be seeing you very soon."

—21:11 GST—  
SDF-04's main cannon swung down into place, adjusted its aim slightly for a positive lock on. The data relay from the Elint-Seekers at the outermost edge of their formation gave her a more accurate target than any of her sensors could hope for. From this distance the entire enemy fleet appeared as a single spec in the distance, and even with their best telescopes they could barely distinguish one vessel from another, even though they were separated in some cases by hundreds of miles. Even so, the enemy fleet was trying their best; a burst of laser fire from one of their cruisers reached out from the darkness and crossed in front of the Monitor's bow, missing its target by almost five kilometers. Three Zentradi cruisers and several destroyers in the Gallaron fleet fired back immediately, and with far greater accuracy; the ship that had fired the errand shots was silenced now as one of the GSDF laser cannons split its command tower down the middle.

"We've got a target, Admiral." Commander Gashi said, "Energy level rising... ready to fire, sir!"

The image of the targeted ship came up on the main viewer; a heavy cruiser close to the enemy command ship in a vain effort to shield the larger vessel from GSDF gunfire. Its reflex barrier was still active, but not up to full power and clearly not up to a direct hit from Monitor's main cannon. Misa gripped the arms of her chair, "Take him out, Gashi!"

A flash of orange light filled the bridge as the main cannon fired. The beam crossed an ocean of space before it reached the enemy fleet; two destroyers and three pickets caught in the beam disintegrated until the full force of the attack slammed into the bow of the heavy cruiser. The ship dissolved into a cloud of ions, even as the beam swept past it and slammed into the reflex barrier of Jinai's damaged command ship. Somehow, the energy barrier managed to absorb the brunt of the attack, but not before the backlash of energy overloaded his systems and shorted out the relays that sustained it. The command ship would not survive another direct hit. "I guess this is what you were trying to tell me earlier, Sarride." Jinai said teasingly, "Even with weapons back online, I can't get off a halfway descent shot."

Sarride was standing a few feet behind his chair, looking at the same screen and the same information he was. "You've already lost more than half your fleet. It's like trying to attack an army of snipers."

"Indeed." Jinai watched his main screen with a sense of helplessness, focused now on the image of a dozen smaller destroyers suddenly caught in the line of fire from several Gallaron vessels in the distance. A combination of heavy lasers and smaller, fast firing particle cannons rained down on the destroyers in a barrage, and the Supervision vessels fired back impotently, hitting nothing but empty space. In less than a minute, all twelve of the destroyers had been shot to pieces by the barrage, the last of them just now flying apart like a house of cards. "Let's cut our losses, Sarride," Jinai said.

"Agreed. Navigation has a partial fix on our exit vector. We can fold now, as long as you don't want to go too far."

"Get us to Morakum-Delcaan and bring as many escorts as can make the fold."

Sarride hesitated, "What about the others?"

"Leave them. It'll give the protoculture a that much more of a headache."

"We can't afford to loose this many ships at once, Jinai. I don't think this is..."

"Sarride, don't make the mistake of thinking I value your opinion. You have your orders, now follow them."

Sighing, the exasperated woman entered the commands into the console and waited for Jinai's officers to respond. _Another retreat,_ she thought bitterly, _And more losses on our side. Damn, is it really that hopeless?_

A quarter of a million kilometers away, Captain Elensh's radar system put up a new warning on the main viewer. Imura instantly recognized the meaning and opened a channel across the gulf of space to the battlecruiser on the opposite side of the battle, "Delta-Vee calling Gunsight Four, sensors indicate enemy ships are attempting to fold."

Misa's sensor computer gave her the same information at the same time Elensh reported it. "We confirm, Victory. Standby." Then, closing the channel, "Commander Gashi, plot their defold coordinates as soon as they..."

"There they go," Lieutenant Gorath reported, "Oh man... with the gravitational weirdness in this system it's gonna take us a couple of _hours_ to plot their coordinates."

"Then I suggest you get started right away. How many ships did they leave behind?"

Gorath checked her computers, then said, "They only took about thirty or so. The others are still engaging. We should be able to clean them up pretty easily in any case..." Her console started beeping, and checking her screens she reported, "We have Skull Squadron on final approach, Admiral."

Misa smiled. "Send my compliments to Skull Zero for a job well done. Meanwhile, select another target and charge the main cannon for another firing."


	18. Chapter 17: Drums

****

Chapter 17: Drums

—September 20, 2018—  
—13:15 GST—  
Kai Chan was sitting peacefully at the table, staring out the windows in the mess hall at the stars outside the ship when he heard the footsteps of the others arriving, later than usual but all at once as expected. He was sure they were up to something; Private Beecher always had that little smirk when they were up to something. The seven of them sat down at the table again, and Kai Chan wasn't especially surprised to see Minmei tagging along just a few steps behind them, chewing a fresh wad of bubblegum. She was obviously in on it.

"Hey Lieutenant! We got you a gift!"

Beecher and Aziz placed a large wooden box on the table in front of him and Beecher opened it. The box contained an old UN Spacy uniform, dyed hot-pink with a frilly edge around the waistline. "Cute," He grumbled, "real cute."

The entire squad laughed, and Minmei was almost rolling around in tears. It took a full minute and a half for all of them to catch their breaths. When they all stopped, Kai Chan stood up to leave, but the squad was not finished with him yet. "Seriously Kai, what is the deal with you? Admit it, you're totally gay!"

"Seriously, I'm not!"

"Prove it." Minmei said, pushing her way through the group. She sat down on the table next to his tray and put her hand on his shoulder. She popped her gum twice, stared at him coyly, and said, "How about a test?"

"What kind of test?" Kai sounded nervous, and given the momentum of his companions for now, he had good reason to be nervous.

Minmei grinned playfully. "I dare you to kiss me. And I don't mean just a little peck-on-the-cheek grandma kiss... a big ole smoocher! Heck, you can even use a little tongue action if you prefer. What do you say?"

Kai Chan raised a brow. "You can't be serious..."

"I'm dead serious," She looked around at the others, who had gone from joking and playful to stone-cold still in the grip of suspense.

"Is there any other test I could go through? Is this the only way?"

Minmei shook her head. "This is the only way. Why? What are you afraid of?"

Kai shrugged, "Nothing, I'm just not a very good kisser."

Aziz asked out of genuine curiosity, "According to who? Men or women?"

The last thing he wanted to do was be honest. The last girl he kissed was his ex-girlfriend's cheek at her lesbian wedding almost six years ago. But before that, if she was any indication, he was a horrible kisser. "Well..."

"He's not going to do it," Minmei said, and chuckled, "That figures."

Kai Chan sighed. This game had gone on entirely too long and now, he decided, was the time to end it completely and decisively. "You leave me no other recourse," he said dramatically.

There was no preparing Minmei for what happened next, or anyone else in the room for that matter. With a sweeping movement of his arms Kai Chan grabbed Minmei by the collar, dragged her down on the table and locked his lips onto hers in a kiss that could end a thousand ice ages. A bolt of lightning struck her in the face, shot from her lips into her brain, down her spine and along the front of her neck, squeezed her heart and sharpened her fingernails, and left such a powerful surge in her loins that if no one else was watching she would have reached up and clawed his shoulder blades clean out of his back. The moment seemed to last for an eternity, and a blissful nothingness brought a stillness to her mind that all but erased her identity entirely.

When it was over, she found herself breathless and quivering on the cafeteria table, stretched out there as if she had fallen from the ceiling. Kai Chan smoothed a wrinkle in his shirt, then stuffed his hands in his pockets and said, "Like I said, I'm not very good."

Minmei uttered a string of incoherent half-words in reply. Kai Chan nodded apologetically, and then—as if to prove a point—blew a bubble with Minmei's gum as he walked away.

Beecher and the marines stood around her for a few moments, utterly speechless, not sure what else to do or where they could possibly do it. A few moments passed before Beecher took the initiative, "Well _that_ was unexpected..." She said lamely, then reached down and peeled a half-melted Minmei off the cafeteria table. They sat her up on one of the benches, and Aziz held up his hand and showed a number, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

She stared at his hand, blinked a few times, then looked at Beecher, blinked some more, then back at Aziz's hand.

"That's not good," Beecher said, "Let's get her home before she passes out or something."

—13:20 GST—

Generally speaking, the massive expanses of space between the star systems was empty, cold, and extremely dark. There were few reference points one could use for navigation, but it was also the perfect hiding place for anyone attempting to assemble a large scale fleet. Gallaron had used these inter-stellar gulfs numerous times to hide things from Lacul's forces, such as relay stations for communications and supply depots, but this time they would use this emptiness as the last stop on their way in towards Kaladan. The entire fleet was already gathered for the attack, all of them ready for battle and fully stocked with fresh mecha and ammunition. Gallaron's meager force of two hundred and fifty ships weren't much of a threat to Lacul's armada on their own, but a second group was approaching now, a group of nearly two-thousand vessels of the Zentradi 182nd Botoru Fleet. These were all the ships Gyzol could spare from his offensive to assist with the Kaladan attack, but his transmission had also included some very good news. In one massive push he had managed to not only cut off enemy reinforcements from other parts of the galaxy, but he had even been able to drive the enemy all the way back to Bokata-Delcaan. His fleet had arrived in the system only moments before, and he gave Gallaron his assurances that the battle would be brief and that he would soon be sending reinforcements to help them finish the enemy. He also expressed some anxiety that Lacul's command fortress had been sighted in the area, but he took this to mean only that Kaladan was the only other place left for them to run to.

The attack was imminent, it was foremost on everyone's mind as the time drew near. Early in the morning of that day a flash in the midst of them provided a somewhat welcome distraction. Twenty ships defolded into an opening next to SDF-09, a group of nearly a dozen destroyers and a few ARMD class escort carriers, and at the lead of the group was one of the new Zjendiel class gun destroyers, seemingly fresh out of space dock. Imura had heard of it by reputation only, the new gun destroyer Varcus had christened the _Perseus_ and commissioned for his own personal use. After only a moment the ship hailed the Victory and Imura found herself staring at a strangely content Dr. Varcus. "Sorry to be late, Captain." He said lightly. "We had a hard time following the trail of smashed battleships. You didn't leave much of them at all."

Imura smiled. "To what do we owe this pleasure, Varcus? Don't you still have work to do at Alpha Factory?"

"Actually, I came here at the request of the Elders. Dumokai Verten is unhappy with the way you've been treating his favorite daughter."

"So sue me. Sekkai is incompetent and I'd be surprised if she follows _half_ of her orders."

Varcus sighed. "Imura, truth is I've been asked to relive you of your command and send you back to Gallaron to explain your actions to them. Obviously I'm not going to do that now or in the near future, but since I understand the council's reasons making such a request, I have come here to take Sekkai off your hands once and for all."

Imura smiled broader. "You're taking her back with you?"

"No, not exactly. Actually, I'm placing the Gladiator and all three of the other prototypes off your hands completely and placing them under my direct command. We'll run fire support for the main fleet, and just for the hell of it I'll let Sekkai command the Gladiator on the front."

"Really?" Imura could already sense Varcus's motivations for this decision, in fact she could almost read his mind from here. Varcus had surely been cashiered by the Elders after they were flooded by Sekkai's complaints, and the council had very strongly advised him to take action to avoid embarrassing Verten and his family. She knew this was a matter of pride for the Elders, that they were hoping to contribute something to the war effort that was truly native to Gallaron and not the influence of outsiders, even though they all knew that without the help of the Megaroad colonists they would have nothing to contribute in the first place. Varcus's decision was intended to remind them of that, even if it cost the lives of the ship's entire crew. "Good luck on your gamble, Varcus. I hope when this is all over we can put all this nonsense behind us."

  
—29:14 GST—  
"It goes something like this," Ash tapped a beat on the table with two fingers, a frantic yet hypnotic rhythm that immediately had all of them nodding in time with it, "and then we bring up the intro a little... do this sexy, spunky lead in with the sax, then cue the full band. What do you think?"

Enki shook her head, "It's got a good sound, but you can't really put lyrics to music like this. Maybe some kind of instrumental, or an interlude or something. Those are popular, ya know."

"Every album we produce has at least four of those," Larz said, "But right now, we're getting a reputation for being one of those BGM bands. C'mon, we've actually got a lead singer who can carry a tune!"

"Hey, Sabrina wasn't half bad!" Gretta protested.

"Wasn't half good either." Amon said, "Not to disrespect the dead or anything... Look, Ash is right, we've got alot of melancholy material so far, we need something high paced. And a high paced song needs high paced lyrics. Obviously, the one thing in this band we _don't_ have is a good songwriter."

Ash shrugged, "Enki and Tical used to write all the songs for Z-Z..."

"Tical did most of the lyrics. I wrote the _music_." Enki sighed close to giving up, then something occurred to her, "Minmei, you've been in the business longer than any of us, do you know any really good songwriters we could tap?"

Minmei said nothing, just sat there motionless staring off into space, her chin resting on her palm. The other band members stared at her for a moment or two, then Larz kicked her under the table, "Minmei!"

"Huh?" She looked up suddenly, coming back into her head, "Uh... wha... uh... songwriters?"

Enki nodded.

"Actually, I usually write my _own_ songs. Sometimes I just need some inspiration, like... uh... you know that song, 'My Boyfriend is a Pilot?' I wrote that song for Colonel Ichijo after he joined UN Spacy. It was sort of a joke at first, but it turned into a big hit."

"Really?" Enki thought about this for a moment, then with a mischievous grin, "So maybe your next song will be called, 'Tonsil Hockey with a Marine.''

All at once, Minmei's cheeks turned purple, "Why do you keep bringing that up?"

"Because you've been acting all distracted and everything ever since the _smooch_!" Gretta laughed as she said it, "What's the story, Minmei? You falling for him or what?"

"No way! He's such a nerd!"

"So is Colonel Ichijo." Ash added, "And Max Jenius for that matter... dammit, how come the _nerds_ end up with all the hot women?"

Amon nodded in agreement, "Aint that the truth. And Minmei is definitely a hot woman."

Everyone around the table nodded in agreement, even—strangely enough—Enki and Gretta. Minmei blushed even deeper, then took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter in her chair, "Great, we all agree about my hotness... now, how about we do something different for a change?"

"Different how?" Larz asked, "You think we should conduct these meetings naked?"

"Bingo!" Ash stood up, and with a single swift movement, pulled off his shirt and threw it on the table. "I feel better already!"

Amon dropped his head on the table, "Put it away, Ash, you're blinding us."

"Actually," Minmei said, trying to ignore the suddenly shirtless Zentradi rocker, "I was thinking about that gig we were planning to commemorate the victory at Kaladan."

Larz slouched a little, "Yeah, well... we're not really planning on what to do if we loose. If we loose, we'll probably be dead."

"Of course. But it means we're not guaranteed to play after the battle's over. You know what I mean?"

"Not really," Amon said, and paused to think about it for a moment, trying to grasp the implications of her idea, "You think we should just kill ourselves _now_?"

"No, I'm saying we should move up the victory concert by a few days, and run the performance _during_ the battle, instead of after. We could fortify the concert hall as a kind of shelter, and then pump the feed to the other shelter capsules around the city. It keeps the morale high, keeps them from worrying, we might even be able to send a simulcast to the enemy fleet for song warfare. As for Ash's beat... well, give me a week or two I'll come up with some lyrics."

Ash stared at her, suddenly puzzled, "I'm not sure that's your bag, Minmei. Unless you're planning on crossing over to hard-rock, in which case my pants are going on this table."

Minmei shrugged, "Rack, rap, reggae... if it moves the crowds, I'll sing it."

Two seconds later, Ash's trousers appeared on the table next to his shirt. He stood up and flexed his muscles, posed, flexed some more, grunted like a professional body builder. Enki and Larz each stuffed a two-yulin bill into the band of his boxers.

Gretta simply turned away in disgust, "You guys are idiots."

"So a live performance, then?" Amon asked, "What do you think, Clem?"

The silent one of the group, the humongous hulk of a man had not said a word since he came in and sat down almost twenty minutes earlier. In response to the question, Clem cleared his throat, then took of his sunglasses. At the sight of this, Minmei actually caught her breath in amazement; Clem had the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. "We'll call it, 'The War Drums Concert,'" He said softly, "We'll run it just before the battle, then repeat the a taping of it every four hours until it's over."

Everyone around the table nodded in full agreement, and with a clap of his hands Amon said, "Thus sayeth the Clem!'

"You know what," Minmei said, "I've never seen a black guy with blue eyes."

"Neither have I." Clem said, then put his sunglasses back on. "I'm colorblind."

Larz looked up at him curiously, "Really?"

Clem nodded.

"I guess you learn something new everyday." Larz stood up from the table, and walked across the room to one of the electric keyboards in the corner, "Stripper man, come over here and show us this beat you were talkin about."

"I can loose the boxers too if you like,"

"Better not, Ash," Enki cautioned, "You don't want me and Gretta fighting over you, do you?"

Ash looked hurt, "What about Minmei? I saw the video, I know she can get freaky."

Suddenly, Minmei's face turned as pale as a full moon, "What video?"

"Nothing to worry about," Larz said, "Some protocrans shot a video of you and that Richard guy during your honeymoon on Chatman's Hill. It's been circulating underground for a couple of years."

"And you watched it?" She looked at Ash with a look of horror, "The _whole thing_?"

"Of course. Haven't you?"

"Hell no! That's despicable! Why would you do something like...!"

"Larz," Ash looked over to his compatriot behind the keyboard, "I think the beat can wait. This takes priority."

Larz nodded in understanding. "I'll go get the disk."

"Oh my God..." Minmei melted into her chair, trying to turn invisible, "I'm going to kill someone, I swear it!"

"You'll be surprised, Minmei." Ash said coyly, "It's not as embarrassing as you'd think."

"I highly doubt that."

"I know you do. And like I said, you'll be surprised."

—29:20 GST—

As soon as he entered his quarters, Broli could hear the growling in his stomach. He hadn't eaten in so long he was sure he would soon be counting ribs in front of a mirror, but now at least for the time being he had some time to actually sit down and eat what could be mistaken for a decent meal. On the other hand, he was in no mood to try and cook something, so he plainly resorted to a spaghetti M.R.E. with a fruit salad. He usually found this satisfying, especially compared to the powdered protein-compounds of Zentradi food packs he had grown accustomed to after all these years. He poured some tap water into the heating pouch, sat back in a chair for a moment to let it sit before he became aware of a growling of a very different nature, as well as the feeling of something furry rubbing against his leg. "You hungry too?" He said, patting Sylus on the head. The tiny cat looked up at him with anticipation in her eyes, purring contently with the promise of another meal. "Don't worry, I didn't forget you." He leaned over to the freezer, pulled out a slab of leftover boneless ribs from the victory party three nights ago. Sylus almost seemed to be smiling; Broli had never been a huge fan of BBQ, but the cat couldn't seem to get enough of it. "It'll be up in a minute..." Broli suddenly remembered what he had actually come here for and pulled a note out of his back pocket. "Oh, that's right. Shikari needs to send a scout team..." Broli started the cycle on the microwave with one hand, opened his MRE pack with the other, then reached over and flipped on the vid screen on the table. "Shian, open a two way vid to SDF-05. Have them put it through to General Shikari."

"Right away, sir." There was a pause before the screen switched again, and the monitor switched to a hold screen while the Defiant's communications officers got in touch with Shikari, checking duty rosters and personnel locators to figure out where in the ship Broli could find her.

The microwave finished its cycle first, and Broli tore off a strip and dangled it over Sylus's head for a moment. She made no pretense of waiting, simply snatched the meat out of his fingers with her paws and started chewing. "Hey, slow down Sylus!" He grabbed a fork out of the cabinet and went to work on the spaghetti. He paused after a few scoops to drop Sylus another strip of BBQ, and he found himself glancing back at the still beeping vid screen on the table. "I wonder what she's up to? It never takes her this long to answer a call, even in her own quarters." Broli wondered if he'd caught her in the shower or using the head or something, but if that were the case she would have simply told him to call back another time. No, this time she was just being slow, which was a bit of a mystery for someone with so much energy.

When she finally did open the line on her end Broli noticed she seemed exhausted. Her face was flushed and sweaty, and her eyelids were drooping even as she looked into the monitor. But more than that, Broli also noticed that she was also completely nude except for the necklace he gave her for Christmas last year. "Captain speaking... oh, hi Kaalcha." she said sleepily.

"Morning, Shikari. Catch you at a bad time?"

Shikari shrugged. "Good as any."

"Great. I called to tell you about some tactical changes. SDF-09 will be leading with a culture attack, and Admiral Misa wants your forces to go back to fire support and advanced tactical support. You're gonna have to get a recon unit in there in the next couple of hours, and I'm not sure if you want to lead the flight yourself."

Shikari wasn't tired anymore. "Right now? Why so soon? We're still about 48 hours from launch time."

Broli took another bite of his spaghetti and talked out of one side of his mouth. "Misa moved it up. The Botoru advanced fleet got here twelve hours early." He swallowed his noodles, then reached up to the microwave to tear off another strip for Sylus, only to find that the little cat had already climbed up onto the counter and helped herself to her meal. "Slow down, Sylus, you'll get sick again!" He reached under the cabinet for a hand towel and dropped it on the counter for the cat to wipe her paws. "What do you think Shik? You going in?"

Shikari shrugged again. "Well, it's tempting but I'm a little busy right now."

Broli smiled. "No kidding. Speaking of which, let me talk to Harper."

Her face had been dark red before, now it almost turned purple. "What makes you think Matt's here?" she said shyly.

"What makes me think Matt _isn't_ there?"

Shikari cleared her throat self-consciously, then moved out of the way of the camera and sat on the bed, and now Captain Harper moved into view. "Hey... uhhh... yeah, you got me Broli. I'm sorry if this creates a problem or..."

"It's no problem, not yet." Broli noticed Sylus growling slightly, though for some reason she preferred to stay out of sight. "Got yourself some good old pussy don't ya?"

Harper blushed heavily, and in the background Broli could just make out Shikari complaining "Matt, I still don't know what that means..."

"Mathew old buddy, you've been a good friend to both me and my wife for a long time now, and I feel like I can trust you."

Harper cocked his head to one side. "Thanks, I guess..."

"But let me just make one thing strait. That girl sitting behind you there means alot to me, and I don't think I need to tell you that. If you mistreat her--even slightly-- I'll have your ass. Do you understand?"

Harper nodded slowly. "I understand sir."

"Good. You can have all the fun you want after this, but this also means you have to take care of her...

"Captain... Broli, I uhhh... we never told anyone this but I think you should know... ummm..."

"What?"

"After this battle's over, we're thinking about getting married. So you can believe me when I say I'll guard her with my life."

Broli could see through him like a glass house. "I see. Good luck on the line, Matt."

He closed the channel and Shikari moved up next to him, leaning up against the side of his arm with her head. He put his arm around her shoulder and walked with her towards the kitchen for some breakfast, but Shikari stopped him in the doorway and stood there in front of him. "You think he's angry?"

Matt sighed. "Probably. Not that I blame him though, he's only looking out for his little sister."

Shikari found herself facing yet another phrase she was unfamiliar with. "Little what?"

"Never mind, it's not important."

—29:40 GST—

No one knew what was happening at Bokata yet, but they all knew it was not good news. Somehow the Zentradi had surprised Sarron's decoy units and his fleet ended up in a running battle halfway across the sector, with the Zentradi simply massacring them thousands at a time. Everyone in the army knew, just as Lacul knew, that the Supervision Army could not stand against the Zentradi for any long period of time. It had been one of the great constants of the universe for over half a million years, that on a level playing field it was the Zentradi who held all the advantages in resources and materials, that the Zentradi could endure much longer than their adversaries if necessary. Even being able to repair their equipment as the Zentradi could not, the only way they had gone on this long was by avoiding open conflicts like this, by giving ground whenever they had to and taking only what losses were necessary to attain victory. Sarron was loosing ships thousands at a time now, and it didn't surprise anyone in the slightest. The only hope now was that Bennet's miracle maneuver turned out to be more than just a fool's attempt to save his reputation.

Kong arrived at Kaladan with the rest of the retreating vessels several days before, running a relay from Bokata to Vorhalas where Lacul could keep track of the battle as it unfolded. Kong himself had watched the retreat anxiously, watched the Zentradi storm in towards the system and the Supervision Army falling inexorably deeper and deeper into their territory. Kong had marveled at how bold Bennet seemed today, the way he had intentionally allowed them to surround his fleet and concentrated all of his reserves around what the Zentradi would have perceived to be their primary target. He had been watching eagerly for new developments when Lacul summoned him, and with every strong effort he drew his attention away from the signal from Bokata to report to Lacul's side.

He arrived there to find the giant of giants seemingly exhausted, as if his life had somehow drained out of him and he now appeared sluggish and immobile. Kong had rarely seen Lacul like this, only when the energy matrix that kept him intravenously supplied with spiritia energy malfunctioned, but he knew that was not the case today. Somehow, some way, Lacul's mood was s factor of pure anxiety. "You called for me, my lord?" He said, approaching quietly on one catwalk.

"I'm sensing a bad omen, Kong," Lacul said, ominously, "What I am about to tell you will not leave this room."

Kong swallowed and nodded faintly. He knew this was important and made an effort to swallow whatever it was Lacul wished of him, "Confidential, Lord."

"Jinai's wife and child," Lacul began, "I've had them in stasis for over half a million years, ever since Gepernich first captured him. For security purposes I keep them stored along with other captives, and keep a close watch on them to make sure they aren't reanimated and sent into combat. Now it seems I have misplaced them somehow, and I'm not really sure when or where."

Kong frowned, "We've been moving a great many of our reservists to the planet surface, Lord. Several have been reanimated for the breeding program. They might have been transferred there by mistake."

That was a reminder for Lacul. Sarride had dutifully reanimated about just short of one billion troops in storage, separated the men and the women and penned them in a variety of makeshift holding units around the various ruins of Vorhalas' cities. In their depleted state they were only barely conscious, but the males retained just enough consciousness to respond in predictable ways when locked in a room with four females. It was an old trick Lacul had learned eons ago and taught to Lazuli as a cost saving measure; it took more time, but it saved him the trouble of having to build and maintain new cloning chambers. "I do not think Jinai knows of this yet."

"I doubt he _could_ know. Just locating them should prove to be a logistics nightmare."

"Even so," Lacul's face darkenned, "This is a bad omen. If and when we begin offensive operations against Gallaron, I want you to keep an eye on Jinai and make sure he follows his orders properly. You won't have enough time to contact me if he does anything... irrational."

"I understand," Kong took a small step back, "Will you forward me a copy of his orders from now on so I can evaluate how well he follows them?"

"Of course. Now I suggest you return to Bokata and complete your mission there first. I'll transfer you to Jinai's command after that."

Kong bowed respectfully, walked back down the catwalk to leave the chamber.

—29:41 GST—

With the entire Supervision Army gathered in Bokata-Delcaan, the Zentradi numbers advantage wasn't so overwhelming anymore, but the result of all the battles were exactly the same and the enemy was made to suffer. Gyzol had watched his fleet tear through the enemy's outer defense line as if they were nothing, and he had watched his main fleet chase the enemy forces across the star system towards the red giant in the center for several days. They hadn't even been able to slow them down, and even now he could just make out the shape of Lacul's command fortress in low orbit of the first planet of the system, barely visible against the star's radiation background. And still the enemy was retreating towards it, making a vain effort to defend their lord and master from Zentradi vengeance. "Run, little men, run." Gyzol said mockingly. "The Zentradi will chase you to the end of time..."

A comms window opened from Commander Barzam on the flagship of his offensive fleet, the smiling officer seemed to be in an impeccably good mood. "Lord Gyzol, enemy ships are now making a stand in front of the first planet. We're also picking up an additional group of twenty-five thousand vessels coming up on the far side."

"Only twenty-five thousand? He must be scraping the bottom now. Annihilate them for me, will you Barzam?"

Commander Barzam laughed. "My gunboats are standing by."

"Alright then. All ships, close to within 60 attacking range and prepare a full barrage. Set your targets to Lacul's command ship and prepare to fire!"

Ten-thousand gunboats opened their main cannons at once and began powering up to attack. It was only a tenth of the number used by the Bodolza fleet to destroy Earth years before, but then again Lacul's fortress was quite a bit smaller than the Earth itself.

Bennet felt a flutter in his stomach, a kind of excitement he hadn't felt almost all his life. The enemy had done everything perfectly closed right in just the way they were supposed to. And even as their gunboats charged up a barrage against the neatly-crafted asteroid sculpture of Lacul's fortress, he could only clench his fists from here and hope they didn't catch on before it was too late. Sarron was still down on the planet's surface in his battleship, but as soon as he gave the order he would activate the program and leave that place along with whichever of his ships were not acting as decoys. "Bennet to all ships, now standby for firecracker..." The gunboats all fired at once, crossing the space between them with their deadly beams and smashing the side of the fortress with their cannons. The blast knocked out a massive chunk of the asteroid and almost split it it two; it had done much more damage than Bennet thought it would and now he was certain they had only a matter of moments before the Zentradi realized they'd been had. "Sarron, initiate firecrackers one through four and get the hell out of there!"

Sarron felt his heart pounding and, hoping for a miracle, pressed the red button on his consol. All at once, his main computer uplinked to the fold weapons deep underneath the planet and, then the fold drives on his ship cut in and most of his fleet folded to the holding area on the other side of the system. His vessels emerged from hyperspace on the opposite side of the star, well beyond the sensor range of the Zentradi fleet. He knew they would not be able to detect the fold reaction for several minutes when the energy could reach them at the speed of light, but it would be over long before then.

Deep below the surface of the planet, all four fully charged fold weapons powered up and activated in sequence, delayed behind each other by exactly 9.412 seconds. The first fold weapon flashed as the booster units plunged it into hyperspace and delivered its deadly energies into it's target, and just under a second later the next one did the same...

The third detonation of the fold weapon was the first one who's effects could be seen by the Zentradi, but even then Gyzol did not have any idea just what it was that was going on. The star seemed to be pulsating inwards like a beating heart, growing brighter and hotter about every ten seconds before pulsing inwards even more. It was as if the star itself was contracting violently for some reason. "Commander Barzam, what in blazes is going on with the red giant? I've never seen a reaction like that before."

All four fold weapons had already gone off, their work completed and their effect irreversible. The star was no longer pulsing, now it was collapsing down towards its center at an incredible rate. Commander Barzan didn't need to ask his computers to know the collapse was accelerating, that the star was caving in on itself fast and faster every second, but like everyone else he had no idea what this meant. "Well Etoru? You have an explanation?"

Barzam's archivist stared at it for a long moment and shook his head in disbelief. "It doesn't seem to resemble any of our old battle records, but it does seem to resemble a scientific phenomena in our oldest archives."

"What kind of phenomena?" Barzam said.

Etoru searched his memory for the last time he had heard any reference to the notion of collapsing stars when suddenly the screens in front of them lit up with the light of a billion suns, blinding all of them to the chaos before them. All the material of the star had reached critical mass, now it burst out in all directions in a reaction a hundreds of trillions of times greater than any reaction warhead. The shockwave of material from the star swept towards them a thousands of times the speed of sound, closing on them so quickly they never even knew what danger they were in. The wave swept across all 300,000 ships of the Botoru fleet in half the time it takes a hummingbird to beat its wings, smashing every one of them down to subatomic particles instantly. Gyzol did not even have a chance to feel the pain before his body was reduced to a cloud of ions, neither for that matter did Barzam or his archivist. None of the Zentradi vessels in the system could have survived the blast, and as the shockwave swept through the system every planet in the star's gravitational field was soon to meet an identical fate.

In a few years that shockwave would begin to effect nearby starts and their planets, but for now the only effect was to inspire awe in the Supervision Army soldiers watching from a distance. As a child on Earth, Bennet had seen these things through a telescope a number of times and always imagined what it would be like to see one in person. Now he had seen it himself, and the reaction that burned it his heart began to work his mind into new shapes and forms. "Well Sarron," He said after a moment, looking at his monitor with a wolfish grin. "Are we satisfied?"

Sarron nodded slowly, still unable to turn his eyes away from it. "It's fantastic! It's like a microbe watching a reaction warhead!"

"That's exactly what it's like." Bennet pointed out. "There's enough energy in this blast alone to wipe out every Zentradi fleet that has ever existed at once, and yet we only needed it for one troublesome little band."

Sarron finally peeled his eyes away from the screens and looked at the data on his consol. "The shockwave will arrive here in eleven minutes. What course shall we set sir?"

Bennet almost laughed. This was the first time since he'd joined the fleet anyone had called him 'sir' without a tone of sarcasm. "The Gallaron fleet is moving on Vorhalas and an attack is imminent. How about we go and surprise them?"

Sarron counted off in his head. "That would be good, but this battle has cost us alot more than you realize. We've lost thousands of ships to the Zentradi and thousands more just for this decoy operation..."

"And the Zentradi are no longer a threat to us, so mission accomplished. In any case, there aren't more than 3,000 Zentradi ships still at large in this sector and most of them are with the Gallaron fleet right now. This fleet alone has nearly six times that number with at least as many waiting for them at Kaladan. Trust me Sarron, our good fortune is only beginning."

"I hope you're right, Bennet. And more than anything I hope it lasts. Fate, it seems, is annoyingly fickle sometimes,"

"Yes, but it always favors the bold." Bennet leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the consol. "I tire of this show, Sarron. I think I'll come back some other time and watch it again, but in the mean time you should set course for Kaladan and try and get there in time for the battle."

Sarron grinned. "In time? Bennet, assuming we don't take too much time between folds we should be able to make the trip in under two days, especially without the Zentradi to worry about."

"That's what I like to hear, Sarron." Bennet said, chuckling in his success as the fold systems powered up.

—29:52 GST—  
Larz poured her another drink, and as with the others she drained half of this one in a single gulp, saving the others for the next gulp. The video was longer than she thought it would be, and far more diverse. And yet, she realized, the worse part had not even come up yet. "I'll tell you what, Ash, I _am_ surprised," She said, slurred words slightly from a combination of alcohol and indignation, "Am I really that boring?"

Enki patted her on the shoulder, "What do most people do on their honeymoons? I mean, look at you... you went fishing, you climbed a few trees, sang a few songs, roasted a marshmallow, ate some small animals... that's a real life. We all have one, it's just not very interesting to see on TV."

"I don't get it," She said, and sagged a little, watching the tape play on. Presently, a slightly younger Minmei and a remarkably giddy Richard Powel were lying side by side on the top of the hill in a carpet of tall Gallaron grass, staring up into the night sky with a telescope, looking for Earth. They hadn't moved from that spot in fifteen minutes, and if Minmei remembered correctly, they wouldn't again for at least another hour when they were finally attacked by a pair of excessively large birds that had mistaken Richard's telescope as a nocturnal arc-worm. "This is some boring stuff. Why do so many people keep buying this tape?"

"The Zentradi go nuts over it," Gretta said, a tiny note of bitterness in her voice, "I guess they're natural voyeurs."

Larz snorted, "That has nothing to do with it. This tape is so popular to Zentradi because to _them_, none of this is boring. They all think of you, Minmei, as sort of the living embodiment of microne culture, but until this tape came out, they all thought "culture" was just song and dance for special occasions. The day-to-day activities of the average microne gave them something they could relate to, something realistic."

Ash thought about the assessment for a few moments, then chopped it down in less elegant terms, "It's kinda like one of those documentaries, you know? Like, this is what _real_ people do in their spare time, not like those movie dramas or those idiotic romance novels. It's an eye opener, I tell ya."

"Damn right," Enki said, regarding the TV image with renewed intensity, "Oh! This is my favorite part!"

Minmei watched and remembered what came next. The protocron photographers had paused filming to replace the power cells on their camera, and resumed again two hours later just in time to catch: "Campfire... campfire songs?" On the screen, the ancient camera zoomed in with startlingly clear resolution. The two of them were sitting on mats around the campfire, roasting hotdogs at the end of long sticks in the open flame. They were singing one of Minmei's old songs, trying to sing it as a duet, but Richard intentionally said the wrong lyrics, and each time Minmei slapped him on the chest and shouted, "Those aren't the words!"

"This?" Minmei looked at Enki in disbelief, "_This_ is your favorite part?"

"Yeah, totally." She shrugged, "It took me at least two months to figure it out."

Ash grunted, "Yeah, me too. I kept wondering why you were hitting him, because you were laughing at the same time. It didn't make sense."

Now Minmei thought about it, and in some strange way it made perfect sense. The Zentradi, with no experience with any culture of any kind other than battles, rules and regulations, no exposure to any mindset other than the rigid framework of a military entity; the video of Minmei's first honeymoon was as alien to them as the Zentradi first were to humans. In a way, it was strangely ironic that something so simple could give such a pure glance look into micronian culture to so many people. The video dragged on like this for twenty more minutes until, at long last, Richard Powell kissed his drowsy new bride goodnight and the two disappeared into the tent at the end of the hill. "I never really thought about it that way... I mean, I guess I..."

"Here it comes," Ash said, then leaned forward in anticipation.

"Here what comes?"

Enki shushsed her and turned up the volume on the TV.

Minmei was completely unprepared for what followed; the next few images from their tent on the top of the hill were in daylight, the campfire still smoldering in its place where they had left it the night before. She could only just hear the dialogue across the distance from the camera to the campsite, but in a few seconds it no longer mattered. She watched herself strip off her clothes and toss them aside, then watched Richard to the same. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the ground--an impressive feat in Gallaron's higher gravity--and Minmei wrapped her legs around his naked waist...

"You have until the count of three to turn this off or I'm calling Kai Chan."

Ash groaned, disappointed, "C'mon, Minmei, haven't you ever watched yourself do...?"

"One!"

Even Gretta protested, "Geez, Minmei, live a little!"

"Two!"

Ash resorted to pleasing, "C'mon! _Please_!"

"Three!"

"Alright, alright," Larz pressed a button on the remote and the TV image clicked off. The computer ejected the disk and the recording ended there. "Damn, you're such a killjoy!"

"Larz, how would you feel if somebody videotaped your...um... private stuff and sold it to millions of people?"

Larz thought about it for a moment, then glanced at Ash, "There's an idea."

Enki chuckled, "Why not? It'll give us something to do."

"Good idea." Larz took the Minmei disk out of the machine, then put another one back in.

Minmei put two and two together, "Let me guess... you two...?"

Enki nodded, "Like I said, you're a _big_ inspiration for me."

"Unbelievable," Minmei stood up from the couch, felt the room spinning slightly from the influence of one too many beers. "I'm going to leave you perverts alone and go work on those lyrics. Does anyone else here _work_ for a living?"

"Maybe later," Larz said, but before she could leave, caught up with her by the door and slipped the disk into her hand, "You might want to watch this," He said into her ear, "It'll help you out."

"How?" She turned around with an angry expression, "I'm sure you've got another copy lying around somewhere that you can humiliate me with..."

"You'll understand soon enough." Larz gave her just a brief flash of a very friendly smile, a sign that he was, in fact, sincere in his meaning. "When you're ready, you'll know what to do."


	19. Chapter 18: The Battle of Kaladan

**Chapter 18: The ****Battle**** of Kaladan**

—October 2, 2018—

—07:40 GST—  
"Is that it?" Miko said, a sense of wonder creeping through her voice.

"That's it," Misa said, putting her hands on her daughter's shoulder, a strange sense of pride washing over her. It felt like they were scouting a strange new land on the eve of their new conquest. Misa almost had the temptation to pat Miko on the head and say, _Some__ day, all this will be yours._

But it wouldn't be appropriate to make assumptions. Even from this distance, it was a beautiful planet. To Misa, the planet so reminded her of Old Earth that if she looked hard enough she imagined she would see the Japanese Islands somewhere beneath the cloud cover in one of the ancient seas. But in her mind she knew this was an illusion. Despite the beautiful blue planet in the distance, she knew the world had been long since abandoned by its previous inhabitants. This was not Earth, and more to the point, this was a world that seemed to have become the new capital of the Supervision Army's new empire. The fourth planet of Kaladan-Delcaan, and around it, a fleet of almost seven thousand enemy warships just itching for a battle. "I bet if you look hard enough you can see their whole aramada."

"What's an amada?" Miko asked innocently.

"It's a word that means 'fleet,'" Misa explained, "A very _large_ fleet."

"Can we really fight that many of them?" She stared into the darkness beyond the observation dome, the Earthlike world in the distance and the twin suns rising just over its horizon, "That doesn't sound safe."

"We'll have to be very careful, but we just might pull it off. Do you remember that song I used to sing to you about the little birdies?"

Miko smiled, "When the mama birdy builds a nest too fast?"

"That's right. Just like in the song, Miko, we'll build the nest one little stick at a time."

Commander Gashi couldn't help but chuckle, "The Bird Song, huh? I was wondering where Shumi learned that one..." a flashing light on his monitor told him that the time index had passed a little earlier than they had expected. "The rest of the fleet has made formation, Admiral. All ships are accounted for, no reports of mis-folds."

"Very well," Misa returned to the command chair on the side of the bridge.

Miko, knowing the drill, made sure to stay no further than three feet away from her at any given time, just close enough for Misa to reach out and grab her if anything unexpected were to happen. It was rare that the girl was ever allowed on the bridge, and she wasn't about to jeopardize future visits with bad behavior. "Where are they? How come we're not shooting?"

"We're still a million kilometers from the planet, Miko," Misa gestured to a tactical plot on her own monitor, "Lacul's fleet is a quarter million kilometers out. We can't hit them from this distance, and they can't hit us. So we're going to send out the bombers to start the attack from beyond our firing range."

Miko's eyes lit up, "Is _Daddy_ escorting the bombers?"

"He sure is."

Miko ran to the edge of the rail on the side of the bridge next to Misa's command chair. The Gallaron fleet was just within sight around them, spread out over an area of space thousands of kilometers across. On Misa's tactical screen it looked like a battlefield scenario straight out of a military history book, but somehow, despite all this concentrated activity, the Monitor almost appeared to be a loan warship in a vast and empty sky. And yet even Miko could sense the thousands of ships and millions of soldiers and crewmen all focused on the same goal.

On Misa's console, the long-awaited number—four hundred fifty thousand—crossed the indicator. She tapped a button on her console and said sternly, "This is Admiral Hayase to all participating warships: we have just crossed the fourth battle line. Launch your fighters to the designated targets and standby to engage from the third battle line. All units must maintain formation at all times, do not evade beyond one thousand kilometers from designated position."

Commander Gashi's console beeped, and he glanced back and said just loud enough for her to hear, "Datalink confirmed to Elint recons. We have target information coming up."

Misa nodded, then to the fleet she said, "Front line ships are cleared to engage. Set your targets and fire as soon as you're in range."

"Twenty minutes to front line in firing range, Admiral," Gash reported, adding only as an afterthought, "That, of course, is our _extended_ range from the new data link system. The enemy won't be able to fire back for another hour yet."

Misa tapped Miko on the shoulder, all the while taking a look at her watch to make sure she had just enough time, "I need to take you below decks now."

"Just a minute!" Miko said, still staring through the observation dome, finally calling out, "There he is!"

Misa looked past her and saw it herself. The first Lightning squadron was being raised into space on the launch arms on the Monitor's grappler module five hundred meters portside aft of the bridge. The only reason they could see it at all was because the ship was in cruiser mode, but Miko's eyes were remarkably keen to discern the skull and crossbones on the tails of the fighters even from this distance. She watched wide-eyed as a long boom extended from the hub of the docking arm several dozen meters from the fighters, then their engines fired up and the catapult fixed to the boom flung them into space like a bullet from a gun. Miko's head followed Skull Zero as it shot away into space, watched it disappear into the stars before finally turning back to her mother obediently. "Okay, Mom, let's go."

—08:02 GST—  
Far to the front of the Gallaron formation, the front line ships—a group of about a hundred ARMD carriers swung their main guns around to the enemy fleet and fired the first salvos of the Battle of Kaladan. A few thousand kilometers ahead of them, the first wave of Parankazu fighters did the same, and six hundred of the tiny ships opened their guns and ripple fired into the Supervision Army's front line vessels, followed by the Zentradi in short order. As before, the first attack from the Allied ships was devastatingly accurate; dozens of perimeter vessels in the Supervision fleet were torn apart from the first salvo alone, and dozens more suffered direct hits and heavy damage. The Supervision ships all fired back in the same measure, but with far reduced accuracy; not a single shot from any of their gunners scored a hit on the first attack, or even on the second.

Several heavier vessels, cruisers and destroyers moved into the mix in an effort to protect the smaller vessels, but it was an effort that would bear little fruit. As larger warships came into range, even the heavier cruisers of the Supervision Army became swamped by the precision of allied gunnery, directed ever so carefully by no less than five squadrons of Elint scout planes, each one guarded by an entire squadron of Lightnings and Zentradi battlepods.

Close to the front, among the waves of fighters and bombers swirling around each other in a dance of death, entire squadrons of VE-1 Elint recon fighters took up their new scouting positions and activated their massive, powerful search radars. Five seconds later, a stream of tactical data appeared on Commander Gashi's monitors, relayed to the Monitor from the hundred or more ARMD carriers at the forward edge of their formation and assembled into a single picture by the Monitor's main computer. "Target updates, Admiral... enemy ships are now in range of our guns."

Misa felt simultaneously relieved and anxious. "What's their formation density?"

"They're in a two-hundred split."

"Set anything over one thousand meters as a single target. Fire at will when target axis is verified." Misa tapped a small button on her command console, then opened a secure channel to one of SDF-2's tactical control centers.

A voice on the other end muttered in Zentradi, "U'debranta Gardrasdakan."

Misa responded with the appropriate password, "Mishae Kara. How are we feeling, Lieutenant Norton?"

In the CIC room of SDF-2, just a few compartments aft of the command bridge, Lieutenant Tyler Norton was hunched over a computer console, cycling through different radio frequencies trying to pin down exactly which one had the information he needed. "I feel tired, Admiral. _Always_ tired these days. I want to go home."

"When this war is over, we can all go home." She said sternly, "Any luck with the enemy comms? The fighter units have already engaged. This is taking too long."

He said nothing for a moment or two, patiently scanning radio bands and descrambling signals to guess at their content. It was only a stroke of blind luck that he stumbled across the right frequency; a data stream appeared on his screen with a string of numbers in a pattern he didn't at all recognize, but glancing at the frequency reading on the dial in Zentradi characters, he slammed his fist on the table, "That's the one! Descramble it and get the frequency!"

Two other officers in the room did exactly that. Fifteen seconds later, a set of numbers appeared on the Misa's command console, "Admiral, I've got the pattern codes. Sending data to all ships computers."

Misa almost laughed out loud. Even though it was Hikaru's idea primarily, she had been dying to find out how well this little scheme would work in actual combat. "Commander Gashi, forward the necessary pattern data to the front line fighters." She watched him put in the data on his console, and settled into her chair for the long haul. This battle would be a turning point in military history, the end of the vaunted battleship slugging matches between opposing clusters of ships. Almost the entire battle depended on the performance of the fighters and the front-line escort carriers and destroyers. _Eight to one,_ she reminded herself, remembering the count of all the allied warships compared to the Supervision vessels._ Eight thousand enemy ships against just under a thousand friendly. Three hundred fifty five GSDF warships, a thousand from the Zentradi, a few dozen from isolated colonies and planets in the outer rim, the two Parankazu battleships and their armada of heavy fighters. And our force of 22,000 fighters and bombers, 15,000 mobile infantry against a mechanized force five times their number..._

"First line reporting, Admiral," Commander Gashi said, "First wave has made contact."

"Excellent. Keep me informed." She took a deep breath and decided not to think about it anymore. _Let's pray that nothing goes seriously wrong. _

—08:55 GST—  
It was only a few minutes into the battle when, close to the front, the first blips of enemy fighters appeared on the scanners, working their way through the lines of Allied firepower. Skull Squadron got the information from a nearby Elint recon long before his own radar spotted them. Theirs was one squadron out of twenty against this particular enemy group, although the next closest pack of enemy ships was just three hundred miles away—less than a swallow's fight in space combat. "Showtime, folks," He armed all of his weapons and pushed his throttles forward slightly, "There's an air defense group just ahead, five frigates and two destroyers. We need to knock them out to clear a path for our spotters. Set flash patterns on medium missiles and set your burst vectors now."

Lieutenant Arriaga asked form the number three position on his right, "Colonel, how many fighters do those destroyers carry? Intel says they're basically carriers."

"Five hundred battlepods, three hundred fighter pods, at most sixty variable armors."

"That's all?" Ensign Batista chuckled, "That sounds like fun..."

"Skull One to all fighters, Got a radar spike!" Major Brooks said suddenly, then relayed the data to the rest of the squadron so their own computers could verify. "They've seen us! They're launching fighters!"

A small voice rang out on Hikaru's headset, "This is Commander Zaky to Skull Squadron. Stand by to receive covering fire..."

A second or two passed, then from somewhere behind the Gallaron fighters, a storm of cannon fire struck down on the hulls of Supervision ships in the distance. The barrage held up for only a moment or two, then one of the destroyers began spinning in space belching flames as the beams from Zaky's fighters crippled its power grid.

Hikaru didn't have time to offer his thinks to the Di'maku pilots; the first enemy battlepods came into range and opened fire all at once. "Lay down a pattern! Open fire!"

Skull Squadron's thirteen planes did exactly that, joined only moments later by nearly a hundred other Lightnings just a half step behind them. The Di'maku squadron fired a second barrage right into the face of the enemy fighters just before the wave of medium missiles detonated in the midst of them. Several of the defending battlepods were struck down by the barrage of cannons, but the missiles exploded harmlessly around and between them, spraying gigantic patterns of colored flares like giant fireworks in space, all different patterns and arrangements for the enemy to see.

The Supervision pilots saw the colored patterns exactly as the Gallaron engineers had hoped they would. Immediately their entire formation fell into chaos, the zombie-like pilots scattering in utter confusion and perplexity as the dance of colors filled their eyes with meaningless instructions. Some of the pods began flying in circles where they were, others turned around and flew back to their home ships. More than a few even ejected from their machines, some self destructed, some began flying in bizarre evasive patterns as if avoiding the defensive fire from an invisible battleship on their flanks.

In these conditions it took the Lightning squadrons all of one minute to smash their entire defensive line, with swarms of micro-missiles and pulse lasers cutting into the lot of them by the dozen. Goldfish squadron was the first group through, with a half dozen Di'maku fighters on their flanks, clearing a path for them with their heavy cannons. Major Southerland took the lead while the rest of the squadron split up by flights, three groups of four and each one to its targets. Lieutenant Magellan scanned far ahead with the targeting radar, even as the range dropped off in clumps from his screen. "Standard picket formation," he said, and did another scan for details, "Looks like two destroyers and some frigates."

"Light me one pair. Put em both into the primary hull."

Magellan armed a pair of RMS-1 missiles, and from this long range programmed them just which part of the ship to home in on. One of the E-valks on their wing locked into the other destroyer, while the two behind them each targeted the two frigates on either side. "Got good tone. Weapons hot."

"Bombs away!" Southerland pressed the pickle switch, and felt the twin tremors as the massive missiles separated from his wings. Then the rocket motors kicked in and both of the missiles sped away into the darkness towards their targets, joined immediately by six more from the other planes in his flight.

Three of the frigates were strick one after another before by other reaction missiles from other Goldfish pilots—two of them tumbled in space and broke apart, the third began desperately turning away from its battle line even as its engines gave out. A salvo of gunfire rang out from behind the bombers, and the main guns of a pair of escort carriers more than a quarter million miles distant began carving up another of the frigates. Battle pods filled the skies around them in a vain effort to intercept, but the E-valks used their speed to the best advantage and charged through the enemy, leaving them to be picked off by the waves of Lightnings farther behind. Megellan counted off the seconds, watched the missiles home in on their target, then finally detonate.

Both of Glen's missiles were on target. They slammed into the enemy destroyer just in front of its command tower and detonated on impact. The vessel snapped in two like a twig before the nuclear fireball reduced it to a cloud of ions, then the second destroyer and the two frigates suffered the same fate. The sky lit up with a series of brilliant flashes then; Glen realized with a sudden surge of pleasure that the entire picket formation was suddenly gone from his radar screens. "Damn, that was easier than I thought... Goldfish-100 to Warewolf-203, all targets eliminated. Request target dope."

The radar operator on ARMD-203 answered much more promptly than Glen would have preferred, "Goldfish-100, second enemy picket group is moving forward to cover the gap. Enemy fighters are already airborne. Proceed with caution."

He could see from his radar screen that just over half the fighter and pods from this first group were still flying about, and their escorting Lightnings seemed relatively occupied finishing them off. "Warewolf, how long until they're in range?"

"Four minutes, nineteen seconds."

Glen changed frequencies now, "Goldfish-100 to Skull Zero, we need to move on to the next target group. You think you can clear these guys in three minutes?"

Hikaru could only barely hear Glen's voice over the buzzing of the missile alarm in his ears. At full afterburner he managed to lead the missile spread by a few extra meters, then spun into battloid mode facing them and cleared out the lot of them with his gunpod. The three variable armors that had fired them came up on all sides, their pulse lasers criss-crossing around him despite his best efforts to evade, "Goldfish..." He said through clenched teeth, tilted one arm and fired a few blasts from the laser cannon. The variable armor managed to dodge most of them, but the last shot caught it in the midsection and burned right through the cockpit, leaving the fighter dead in space "...I can have it done in _two_ minutes!"

Two streams of pulse lasers crossed the paths of the second armor and chopped it to bits in space. The last one banked sharply and tried to run; Hikaru dropped the plasma cannon over his shoulder into position, then fired both barrels. The direct hit pierced it through the cockpit, and the variable armor tumbled in flight as it began to disintegrate from the inside. "Good kill, Batista!"

Skull-11 shot past in fighter mode, and Batista snapped off a quick victory roll before he plunged again into combat with more enemy pods.

—09:31 GST—  
Captain Sekkai gripped the arms of her chair as the next barrage hammered down on them from the front. Most of the beams missed by a comfortable margin, but three direct hits bounced off the pointpoint barriers at the front of the ship, scorching the hull plating underneath. The gun destroyer on their starboard side wasn't so lucky, with much of the salvo cutting into its primary hull and punching open large gaps in one of its shoulder cannons. All four of them were in cruiser mode now, with the maximum number of their secondary guns firing back in patterns.

Sekkai's first officer reported off almost completely emotionless, as if nothing about this situation was even slightly unusual for him. "Direct hit on the number four shield. Sixty seconds to recharge."

"What's our time on the main guns, Sorel?"

"Thirty seconds on number two, sixty on number three, two minutes each on one and four."

"Set targets to number two and three to the enemy cruiser. Target their main engines and fire in sequence..." A brilliant light bathed them from the starboard side. Sekkai looked over in time to see the second gun destroyer, the Perseus, firing a blast off one of its shoulder cannons into the vast distance ahead. The beam rode its trajectory perfectly, finally slicing right down the throat of one of the enemy cruisers. The blast of energy plowed through the forward section of the cruiser and fully a third of the vessel was blasted into space dust. This left the cruiser effectively powerless and two more cruisers moved up to cover the gap in their formation, only to have their lines broken again as the Perseus' other shoulder cannon struck another cruiser amidships, planting an explosion there that immediately split the cruiser in two.

"That Doctor Varcus really knows how to use firepower." Commander Sorel said, then reported again in his usual detached tones, "Ten seconds on number two... incoming fire."

"Shields forward!" Sekkai gripped her chair again and held her breath. The ship's smaller particle cannons fired off one last barrage before the enemy counter attack hammered them.

This time they were much more accurate. Nearly twenty cannons aimed at the Zjendiel struck within a dozen meters of the hull, five of them scored direct hits. Sekkai watched one of the beams hit the hull just in front of the command tower, and geyser of flame erupted from deep within the hull and blinded the command bridge to anything beyond the transparent dome. Through the haze of flames, just for a moment, her eyes fixed on the shape of a human body amongst the debris, then two more—a dozen officers or so blown into space among the jets of flame and debris. The other blasts from enemy cannons struck the ship in other compartments, two against the pinpoint barriers and others being absorbed by the ship's armor.

Sorel reported after a moment, "Direct hit to sections twenty eight and thirty. Heavy casualties reported. Number four shield is destroyed."

"Get me main cannons!" Sekkai shook herself, tried to put the visual memory out of mind, "Target the second enemy cruiser!"

Sorel paused for a moment and set their target, and at the same time another blast from the Perseus' arm cannons fired off into space as the gun destroyer moved slightly to cover the Zjendiel from enemy fire. Another direct hit, this time through the reactor block of one of the cruisers, with spectacular results. The blast from the ships own reaction furnace crushed it into bits within a heartbeat.

"Resetting," He said, then reported, "Energy level rising, taking aim... target lock!"

"Put it right down the middle... and fire!"

The Zjendiel's first shoulder cannon fired at the enemy fleet at the same instant that the enemy fired their own barrage. This time the gladiator suffered no direct hits, but several heavy laser cannons punched through the armor of SDG-04 in more than a few already tender spots. The beams crossed each other in space, then the gladiator's larger, more powerful blast hit the lead cruiser head on and drilled through the hull entirely, right down the length of the vessel until it punched out again through the stern between the main engines. Curtains of flames rose up from the core of the ship and consumed it completely until there was nothing left but metal splinters and expanding clouds of burning vapors.

Sekkai turned her head in time to see her victory tainted; the stricken gun destroyer was burning in space, breaking up with every moment, its bulkheads buckling and its structure starting to collapse. A few life pods began to separate from its primary hull, then one last salvo from the enemy fleet poured into it and the hapless destroyer came apart in its fiery conclusion.

"Support fighters coming up," The Zjendiel's radar officer read through the first sets of data as they came up on his screens, "Two E-valk squadrons from the Ajax. They're requesting target dope."

That suited her just fine. All that was left of Varcus' little detachment was their three destroyers and four escort carriers that so far had done a superb job of keeping enemy fighters away from them. Two more bomber squadrons would make all the difference in the world. "What's the enemy strength?"

"Five cruisers, ten destroyers, at least two dozen frigates."

"Tell them to go after the small fries and leave the cruisers to us."

This time, Commander Sorel turned around in surprise, "Small fries?"

"It'll save time. If they can get past the defenses they can drop at least half of them on the first two passes. I don't want to be stuck plinking at the lighter ships for the next ten hours."

The commander grunted in appreciation, "I never would have thought of that."

"Send over target data to those new fighters and get a couple of escort squadrons to help out! All guns, target the enemy destroyers closest to the fighter's approach path! Number three cannon, match bearings and fire!"

The Zjendiel's arm cannon opened like the jaws of an aligator, sparkling between the two sections as the cannon charged for firnig. It raised up slightly, then turned a few degrees to one side, then from between the breach another massive column of energy shot towards the enemy fleet like a breath of fire from the jaws of a dragon. Two frigates and a destroyer caught in the line of the blast were vaporized almost in an instant, along with hundreds of battlepods and variable armors. The deadly beam cleared after a few moments, and then dozens of GSDF fighters poured into the opening it had carved and charged into the heart of the Supervision fleet to deliver their ordinance.

—10:55 GST—  
Despite the brightness of the moon overhead and the spectacularly overgrown ruins of the cities, the landscape rolling beneath them now was the very image of "home." This part of the continent was a carpet of tropical rainforests, small lakes and networks of rivers so elaborate that in some places the entire landmass looked more like a collection of islands than a singular body. There was more fresh water flowing in this place than there ever was on Earth, and the forests here testified of this fact; this world was a paradise.

Kai Chan shifted frequencies again, keeping the live feed from the Victory as a background on his headset and listened in from the Minmei concert already in progress there. There was something reassuring about this, hearing Minmei's voice like a whisper in his ear even now, flying through space thousands of miles away from her. He fished through his pockets briefly, and found there a small photograph to go with the voice, one of Minmei in faded overals sitting on a couch somewhere with Taosan and Yu batting each other on her lap.

_"Seeing you in my tears  
In my own reflection  
I hear you in the wind that passes through me_

_Feel you in my hunger  
You're haunting my ambition  
Beautifully destructive attraction_

_Climbed to zero G's  
Now falling like a rock  
Drugged and digitized you inside a dream..."_

"Shadow Four to Shadow Leader, I've got a fix on the primary target..." There was a short pause, then Aziz gave the coordinates, "Enemy position confirmed, bearing 3-1-7."

He kept the music in the background and tuned his own computer into the datafeed from the Cats-eye. "Has intelligence confirmed it? Is this really...?"

Beecher piped up as well, "The Cats-eye just confirmed it visually. The facility is twenty six kilometers in diameter and runs underground at least a thousand feet. We don't think the Supervision Army built it themselves, probably some ancient mining operation from whoever owned this place last."

Kai Chan imagined the worst case scenario, "Twenty six kilometers is big enough to be a city."

"Possibly. Recon has sighted at least four of them on the surface, but this is the only one that shows any activity. What do you think is going on?"

"It doesn't help to guess. We know they've setup a massive amount of defensive weaponry around it, along with a dozen ships and a few thousand troops. Whatever it is, we can't let this battle end without bombing it." He glanced over his shoulder for just a moment, visually counting the weapons slung under his wings. It was an old habit from his days as a Stormlord pilot, checking his own stores by hand instead of using the computer; the four gigantic missiles slung under his wings, highly modified XASM-405 cruise missiles, their outer covering reinforced with a double-layer of hyper carbon. Each of these new missiles had its own small nuclear turbine engine, complete with an intake for use within an atmosphere. This mission was both a tactical bombing and a field test. "What's our distance?"

"Two hundred miles," Aziz reported.

"Let's get to altitude. We'll only have a few seconds to launch."

_"I find you in my fears  
And in my fascination  
I taste you in safe water and it drowns me_

_Paranoid and peaceful  
Inside a sweet addiction  
Velvety electrical reaction_

_Soft insanity  
And I can't make it stop  
Live hallucination within a dream..."_

_I wonder what kind of dress she's wearing? _Kai Chan eased the stick back and began his ascent. At fifty thousand feet they would launch their missiles, then climb up and out of the atmosphere, away from the planet towards the six Parankazu fighters that constituted their escape route. He managed a quick glance at his fuel gauge and saw that the additional fuel tanks in the internal bays on his legs were almost empty. _Maybe her style is changing? I got used to thinking of her as the kind of sweet, classy galactic diva. Now she's really starting to turn heads with a few of those outfits..._ "Passing ten thousand feet," He reported, _What__ is the deal with that? Trying to shake things up by shedding the "good girl" image?_ "Twenty thousand," He said, then whistled, "Damn, these things can climb!" _Or maybe it's her producers or her record company trying to get more bang for their buck? Yeah, that's got to be it. Seems like that P.R. guy... Lieutenant Doyle, was it? I can't tell if he's a producer or a pimp sometimes..._ He broke from his train of thought for a moment, then howled in amazement, "Unbelievable! Beecher, you _still_ think these birds are just suped-up Valkyries?"

"Aint no way, Skipper! Even my Queadlunn-Rau couldn't haul ass like this!" She pushed the throttle just a little, then added, "Fifty thousand feet and I didn't even have to cut in the afterburner!"

"Let's level off for a moment and set target data. Synchronize computers," A dial appeared in the HUD display on the front of his canopy, counting down from six seconds. The rest of it was done on automatic, the combat computers of all fifteen VFXs working and thinking together for the task. Then the clock struck zero, and Kai Chan felt the quadruple lurch in his controls as the giant missiles fell away from their hard points, dropped for a few moments, then their turbo-jets kicked in and the missiles raced away into the night sky.

The lights of the facility were just appearing on the horizon now, sprawled out in concentric circles around a massive metallic dome. Interceptors and battlepods were already launching to fight off Kai Chan's formation, and in the jungle dozens of missile launchers began rising up from beneath the tree line.

Kai Chan couldn't help but comment as they ascended again towards open space, "That target doesn't quite look like the recon photos." He glanced to his left as they continued to ascend, pushing his throttles forward even more to approach orbit speed, "In fact it looks like... like a..."

Aziz came to the same conclusion, "It _does_ look like a city," He said, and turning his cameras towards the target zoomed in to maximum resolution, "And a big one at that. The architecture is identical to the Old City in Megaroad. Same pattern of roads, circular block layout..."

All at once, the other pilots zoomed in as well and saw for themselves. More than a few of the buildings were very familiar, and it didn't take an untrained eye to see the similarities. The dome in the center of the city was the only new feature, in fact its construction didn't seem entirely complete yet. There were signs of activity all over the city, but Kai Chan had seen enough to make a conclusion, "Am I crazy or they renovating this place?"

"You're not crazy," Beecher said, "But it seems like they're _looking_ for something... I mean, like they're surveying the city for something, as if they were..."

Kai Chan's missile alarms began a sudden high-pitched howl as somewhere below them a dozen variable powered armors came into range and fired off spread after spread of missiles. "Let's just bring the data back to the fleet," He said. With a flip of a switch his internal bays swung open and the two large fuel tanks separated and fell away. Two other VFX fighters did the same, and the enemy missiles homed in on the fuel tanks, exploding harmlessly thousands of feet below the ascending fighters.

The threat warning was still chirping on his headset, but Kai Chan knew that none of their fighters would be able to make the intercept now. Their missiles had been fired, and in five minutes they would come raining down on the Supervision Army facility at a dozen times the speed of sound. Half of them would exploded on the surface and send a blast wave of supercharged energy particles sweeping across the city, the other half would borrow to a depth of nearly six hundred feet before their warheads exploded deep underground, vaporizing anything around them, and—ideally—filling any underground tunnels or chambers with a charged plasma millions of degrees Fahrenheit.

_Minmei's__ birthday is coming up,_ Kai Chan realized suddenly, _What__ kind of present should I get her this year?_

—15:18 GST—

Bennet was late, his fleet had been delayed by the unexpected inconvenience of a Zentradi fleet between them and Vorhalas. The Botoru fleet, it seemed, was not entirely vanquished, in fact there seemed to still be several thousand vessels still at large on the Bokata front. Collapsing that front to destroy the enemy left them almost totally isolated at Kaladan, which he now arrived to find under threat by a seemingly aggressive and apparently successful attack, but with his reinforcements arriving he knew Lacul's army would seen be moving to a whole new base of operations. "Lord Lacul, this is Admiral Bennet arriving from Bokata-Delcaan."

Lacul's face appeared on the monitor filled with dread. "Bennet, where the hell have you been! I've been trying to contact you for the last three days! I need those fold weapons I gave you, I can no longer afford..."

Bennet laughed out loud, at once putting Lacul's mind at ease. "My Lord, you really should learn to relax a little! I have just dispatched the entire Botoru fleet and Commander Gyzol once and for all. They will not threaten us again."

Lacul's mood visibly brightened. "Did you really?"

"Of course. I told you I could do it, you didn't believe me. That'll teach you to doubt my abilities when I..."

"Okay, dammit, I believe you!" Lacul chuckled to himself over his good fortune. It seemed now that capturing Bennet and his fleet was the best investment he had ever made. "We're taking heavy losses from the enemy fleet. Somehow they've found a way to target our vessels from extreme range and we're unable to mount an effective counter attack. They've done far more damage than I ever thought possible, but it doesn't surprise me much considering how resourceful these people have been thus far."

Bennet looked at the tactical display and saw this for himself. "They seem to be relying on reconnaissance craft to direct their gunnery."

Lacul nodded. "An old Zentradi tactic. I've never seen it used so effectively though."

After a brief pause, Bennet said brightly, "Have they destroyed our early warning system on the asteroid moon yet?"

"No, the moon as on he far side when they attacked. They didn't bother with it."

A perverse smile crossed Bennet's lips. "Have your gunners synchronize their targeting computers with the main sensor array and direct fire that way. Move at least half of the fleet to a defensive position around the moon, then move the rest of them to a flanking position."

"That'll leave Vorhalas completely open to attack... Bennet, what are you thinking?"

"Are you doubting me _again_, Lord?" He chuckled, "Sire, we'll box them in and pound them into submission before they even know what hit them." He saluted his overlord, then with a tap on the command console Lacul's image vanished, replaced by Sarron's on the other command ship next to his. "It's time, Sarron. Are you ready?"

"You were right about the last one, I trust your judgment." Sarron checked his fold calculations one last time and nodded. "Ready to go. All we're waiting for is the signal, right?"

"Right. We'll attack in three waves, put four thousand in each and keep the rest in reserve. I want to get as many of the Gallaron ships as we can on the first salvo."

—15:20 GST—  
The Phoenix had only just completed the transformation into its full combat configuration when a fierce volley of cannon fire crossed the bow of the ship, this one even closer and more precise than the previous attacks that had assailed them over the past few minutes. It took Captain Broli only a few moments to realize that this new wave of enemy gunnery anything but random, but the instrument behind it was a mystery to him even now. "Pinpoint barriers, enemy fire is intensifying! It's time to earn your paychecks!" Even as he spoke, still another volley struck down around them from the distant space ahead. The pinpoint barriers moved into position and deflected the beams, but one well placed shot punched through the side of the hull, blasting a small opening in the armor plating.

"Direct hit, Captain! Enemy heavy cruisers in satellite orbit!"

"Why are they so accurate? We're still half a million kilometers from the planet!"

Commander Raltha went over a list of possibilities in her mind. It was a short list. "This is Cruiser Two to escort, on my mark, secure all active scanners and switch to passive only for ten seconds! Recon fighters, switch to mode four!" She paused and gave the radar crews around the fleet a chance to catch up, "And... mark!"

A few seconds passed, then Lieutenant Carey called out from her console, "I've got a fix! High energy radar spike bearing 2-1-7! It's on the surface of the moon!"

Broli felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. The single moon of Kaladan-IV was far removed from the battle zone, almost as far from the fleet now as the planet itself. From that position, a well-placed sensor array could direct naval gunfire for every ship in the Supervision fleet. "Cruiser-Two to Gunsight Four, we're picking up an enemy sensor array on the face of the far moon! It appears to be spotting for enemy cannons!"

There was a pause as the Monitor confirmed it, then Misa signaled to the entire fleet, "Delta Four to Cruiser-Two, I'm assigning the array as your primary target! Take out the enemy sensor array before they zero in on us..." A concentrated barrage from what seemed like a dozen ships rained down on the Monitor as she gave out his orders. The pinpoint barriers moved to the front but not enough to catch all of them. At least four beams hit the hull and punched through to the ship's inner compartments.

Broli put the sensor data on his main screen, magnifying the image of the array as much as the computer could manage. "Can we take it out in one shot?" He asked even as the main cannon charged up to fire.

Commander Raltha shook her head. "The sensor array is spread out over a twenty kilometer radius. If we can hit it, we can only damage part of it."

"Just do the best you can! Fire when..." A burst of cannon fire reached out from the direction of the moon, pelted the Phoenix in a dozen places despite the best efforts of the pinpoint barriers. Something that seemed like a fury of beams and missiles of all shapes and sizes suddenly erupted from there, and it didn't take Broli long to realize why. A moment later the ship realigned itself again, and the main cannon fired off its deadly blast in the direction of the moon. To no one's great surprise, the beam only made it about half way to the target before an enemy heavy cruiser moved into the path of it and switched on its barrier field. The beam from the cannon crushed the enemy vessel and several others around it, but it traveled no further towards the moon. "Admiral Hayase, the enemy fleet is splitting up! They're moving to protect the sensor array!"

Misa knew where this was going. Given where the moon was now, the Supervision Army would be able to anchor the fight around the moon and the sensor array they were using as a spotter to direct their cannons. The GSDF would be forced to divert as well, and Kaladan-IV would be removed from the center of the battle entirely. With that, the offensive was as good as lost, but the battle itself was far from over. "Delta-Four to all ships," She said, more sternly this time, "Redeploy your formation to move on the moon of Kaladan-IV. We'll have to push through from there before we get to the planet."

A response came in from one of the gun destroyers, Varcus' voice ringing through, "Admiral, this is not good. If we divert our attention to the moon, the enemy will have a chance to build up a counter attack."

"I'm perfectly aware of that, Varcus. Right now my number one concern is reducing their battle strength as much as possible before we pull out of here. This invasion has just become a raid."

Varcus' training kicked in, and he forced himself to swallow his pride. He knew Misa was correct, even as much as he hated to admit it to himself. "I'll move my group forward to support the flanks."

"Get to it, Varcus, but watch yourself. This battle could turn ugly at any moment."

—15:39 GST—  
The sky ahead of them lit up with the flashes as dozens of reaction warheads exploded among the guarding enemy fleet. Still hundreds of them remained, all firing in volleys at the GSDF attackers even as the Gallaron fleet fired back with equal precision. SDF-05's main cannon was still charging, but the four main lasers and secondary cannons drew a bead on one of the enemy destroyers in the distance; the gunners linked up with a VE-1 Elint close to the enemy fleet, and then all together delivered the grand finale.

Shikari watched on the monitor the enemy ship break into pieces in a fiery demise, and again as the gunners moved on to even larger targets closer to the array. Her radar registered a sudden shift in the enemy formation, and concentrated scans on that spot she picked out several ships charging them from far behind the others. "Cruiser-Five to Archer-One, there's a new group of ships coming up from the rear line. Should be in range in about thirty seconds."

Varcus looked past the enemy ships and saw them at last, a group of almost a hundred cruisers and destroyers with a single battleship leading the pack. All at once he noticed something else, something he realized he should have noticed a long time ago. Many of the cruisers and even a few of the destroyers were of an older design, much older than the Supervision Army's standard warships, which he knew to be ancient even by Zentradi standards. These vessels were of a design only hinted at in his oldest archives, the kinds of ships Zentradi battle orders once demanded should be left alone. For the first time since this battle started, Varcus was suspicious that there was something else going on here. "Shikari, look at the larger ships to the rear flank. Where did Lacul get that kind of technology?"

Shikari noticed them for the first time just a moment before they all opened fire, bombarding her ship with laser cannons from too many directions at once. She squinted through the red glow of enemy lasers to pick out the shape of the enemy ships before her, now she could see for herself. "Old but still deadly! I just lost my forward missile launchers!"

Corina could make out a small plume of fire reaching out from one of the Defiant's engines, telltales of some trouble in the ship's engine room. "Cruiser-Five, you're taking heavy fire! Fall back behind destroyer cover, we'll cover you!" SDF-2's gun turrets seemed to add emphasis to the statement, firing a full salvo from all thirty forward turrets at one of the lead cruisers. The enemy ship seemed stricken by the barrage but still undaunted until Megaroad's main laser cannons put the death blow into it and the ship came apart in a galaxy of explosions. Corina's gunners fired another barrage for cover, but the Defiant did not move to exploit it. "Shikari, what the hell are you doing!"

"The damage isn't as bad as it looks! Engine room reports all reactors are still running at full and we can keep fighting for a while! We'll stay in the fight as long as it takes!"

The enemy cruisers ahead of them charged and fired another volley, but SDF-03 moved in front of the Defiant to screen this second attack; the pinpoint barriers on its "arms" caught the beams before they could do any damage, then the Ajax launched a spread of missiles to answer them. "Ajax to Defiant, the enemy fleet is concentrating their fire in your direction! I recommend you fall back behind the escorts!"

Shikari clicked her mic, "Negative, Ajax! There's a new group of enemy ships moving ahead of the fighter wings! We might as well clear them out now so the rest of the fleet can advance!"

Varcus could only just see that on his scopes, and it only took him a moment to figure out what to do about it. The moon that somehow had become the object of their offensive was still quite a distance away from them, and the Supervision Army fleet massing between the GSDF and the sensor array on its surface seemed to be swelling with every minute that passed. "Alright... This is Archer One, leave it to us." He used his own command console to manually input the targeting data on the cruiser group that had been giving Shikari such a hard time. The targeting computers responded to his inputs, and after a moment the ship's four main cannons adjusted their aim and locked in. "Archer One to Archer squadron, match my targets and fire at will."

The captain of the other two ships confirmed the order as usual, but Captain Sekkai responded in action only. All four gun destroyers opened their main cannons at once and aimed at the approaching battle group as they charged. Once again Varcus was annoyed with her for her apparent lack of radio discipline, but he was satisfied that she was at least following orders when he gave them. In the next moments the Perseus ripple-fired all four of its own cannons, joining the others in a salvo that knocked out nearly a dozen enemy ships at once.

Hikaru's fighter squadrons were moving up right behind Varcus and his destroyer group, keeping clear of the ships to avoid getting clipped by the enemy's battleship cannons but staying close enough to be covered by the ship's defense lasers and missile bays. They were all watching the enemy ships moving in front of them to cut off their attack, and they could see on their radar that this small group was the only thing between them and Lacul's fortress. Once they were inside, all bets were off. "Skull Leader to all fighters, those cruisers are going to open up a hole for us and we'll to fly the gauntlet. Escort units, use flash missiles to draw their attention, but stay with the E-Valks as long as you can. Regult unit, we need you to pry open the fighter screens for us. Keep one eye on those variable powered armors!"

"We're ready when you are, Colonel!" Major Sutherland sounded off. "Here we go Eddy..."

Varcus' destroyer squadron laid down a pattern with its cannons to clear a path for the bombers like a snow plow from hell. The heavy fighters and their escorts slipped into the now open channel straight in towards their targets, leaving the rest of the fleet far behind on their way to destiny. Closer to the enemy fleet, the final vanguard of variable powered armors and battlepods came up in front of them, already locking weapons from well beyond firing range. "I see them ahead, Colonel!" Monty shouted, "Three or four squadrons! They look _awful_ jumpy!"

"Confirmed! Full afterburner, we'll punch right through them!" Hikaru was in the lead, pushing towards an empty space in the defense line as fast as his fighter would move, locking on to the defenders in the distance ahead even before he was close enough to fire. He only had three more AIM-140 missiles under his wings, but his laser cannons and gunpods were just begging to be used. There's not that many of them! Bomber group, make em eat your dust! Escort squadron, we'll skewer them in one pass!"

"Roger that, Skull Leader! Cover our backs, we're going in full speed!" The E-Valks behind them cut in their afterburners and raced ahead of the Lightnings, leaving them all well behind as they charged headlong into the battlepods. None of them bothered to slow down, even to launch the micro missiles as soon as they had a lock. The variable armors tried in vain to intercept the bombers before they could get past, but to no avail. The Lightings behind them came into range a moment later and a storm of missiles and pulse lasers cut them down as the interceptors shot past the wrecked squadron of defenders at break-neck speed. From here it was a straight shot all the way to the enemy battlecruisers and destroyers where the missiles carried in the wings of the E-Valks would blow them out of the sky...

Then the sky lit up like a thousand suns. The open space between the bombers and the enemy fleet was suddenly filled to capacity with enemy ships, cruisers old and new, a few battleships and a single command ship and what seemed like a cloud of fighters and battlepods launching into space around them. An entire armada began to de-fold everywhere at once, all around the enemy front line and even on the flanks, out in the distance on either side of the allied fleet, behind them and above them, surrounding them on all sides. Everywhere one looked their numbers grew and grew until they almost blocked out the stars with their numbers.

Hikaru barely had time to switch into gerwalk and cut his velocity before a storm of cannon fire lit up the space in front of him from a thousand-strong force of battlepods. The E-Valks that had shot ahead of him had all disappeared, and as he turned back in desperation he just managed to call out a warning to the rest of the squadron, "It's a trap! Pull out! All fighters, pull out!"

For many of them it was already too late. A few of the interceptors were caught in a crossfire as they tried to reverse course, others flew headlong into spreads of missiles. The others cut in their afterburners and raced back towards the safety of the Gallaron fleet, and hundreds of variable powered armors screamed after them with lasers and missiles.

Skull-11 found himself lined up in he sights of an entire squadron of variable armors, jinked back and forth in desperate evasive maneuvers until one well-placed laser pulse burned into his cockpit. Skull-6 spun around in battleoid mode and emptied her gunpods, shooting down two enemy fighters at once before their comrades sank a dozen missiles into her torso. Skull-9 did the same, but the variable armor on his sights angled in sharply and rammed him at full speed.

A trio of battlepods appeared out of nowhere ahead of Hiakaru and started firing, trying to slow him down. He fired a spread of his mini-missiles around them, waited for the flash-warheads to detonate, then switched into batteloid as he passed and fired his laser cannons into their backs. Still more fighters charged after him in pursuit; he shot off one last volley into their faces before he turned again and broke for home at maximum speed. "Skull squadron, let's make a break for it! Brooks, get on my wing!"

Brooks' response was a rasp in his headset, "To hell with that! I'm not going down without a fight!" Skull-1 was surrounded by enemy pods, spinning between them with gunpods blazing, trying to keep them at bay. Two at a time he bounced between targets, putting a short burst into each at the same time he dodged their return fire. One variable armor dodged his fire and landed a clear shot; a long burst of laser fire chopped his Lightning into pieces.

Varcus saw it but couldn't believe it. The number of enemy ships defending the moon had doubled in an instant, then doubled again only moments later; now the entire fleet, Gallaron and Zentran and anyone else they had brought with them were surrounded on all sides by an enemy so numerous it was impossible to get an accurate count. "De'huna! We walked right into a trap!"

Corina fired another burst from her particle cannons, only to be answered by dozens of enemy ships in the same manner. In just a few moments half of her guns were no longer functioning and her consol showed hull breaches all over the forward section. "Damn it all! Helm, come hard about, 1-4-0 plus 19, engines ahead one-third until we've recovered the fighters!"

"Yes Captain..."

"SDF-2 to Gunsight Four, we've just lost our forward guns and taking heavy fire! We're retreating from the battlefield!"

Misa's voice rang into Corina's headset behind a curtain of static, "Get clear Megaroad, but try and recover as many fighters as you can on your way out! I don't want to leave anyone behind..." Monitor was already reversing course, with the Phoenix and the gun destroyers bringing up the rear not far behind him. All of the ships were transforming back into cruiser mode to get the most out of their engines as they fell back, as were the VFs changing to fighter mode and flying on ahead of them. "Gunsight Four to all ships, they've made us! Recover your fighters and retreat immediately!"

Another wave of fold reactions, equal in size, this one right behind the first one. There were so many ships out there Hikaru couldn't even see the stars anymore, only a growing cloud of enemy warships and fighters swarming around them, filling the sky with fire trying to knock them down. "E-Valk wing, if any of you have any missiles left, shoot em ahead of you and use em to clear a retreat path! Everyone else, get _behind_ the bombers and ride em back to the barn!"

Glen pointed his fighter in a random direction and let Eddy pick out three targets on the radar. He selected three heavy cruisers, highlighted all three on the HUD and clicked off the safety. "Good to go!"

Glen pressed the switch, watched all ten missiles leap from their hardpoints and then turned his fighter around to return to the ship. The fighter was so much faster without its bomb load it was almost sickening. "This is Goldfish Leader, you heard the man! Drop your bombs and go!"

Every surviving plane in the squadron fired their missiles some in random patterns in the enemy fighter formation, some at the dozen or more warships that blocked their retreat. The missiles detonated one after another like a nuclear fireworks show, a dance of death that blinded all of them for a few moments and left the skies ahead of them blessedly clear for a few crucial moments. Glen fired his own missiles into the gap and then slammed his afterburners, while the survivors from the other fighter squadrons made their run right along behind him.

Corina saw the missiles from Glen's fighter hit first, crushing dozens of pursuing battlepods at once. She allowed herself just a moment of admiration, but then noticed curiously that those few pods were only a handful of several hundred. As the E-Valks passed through them along with the rest of the retreating fighters, all of the pods turned their attention onto the next nearest target. "Delta to Gunsight Five, you've picked up a few fans! Expedite your retreat _immediately_!" The warning almost seemed like a jinx; the newly arrived battlecruisers and destroyers began to turn their attention onto the Defiant at once, with increasingly larger guns training for a target, their accuracy increasing with every second.

Captain Harper could see much of the same, and from his position a dozen kilometers behind the Defiant, his was the only group in the formation now that could cover them. Somehow it annoyed him that it had come to something like this... "Destroyer groups, you need to screen the Defiant while she retreats! Shikari, can you get anything more from those engines?"

Shikari checked her navigation board and frowned, "Negative, Ajax! We're already running at maximum! We can't push them any harder right now!"

Harper looked at the image of the limping cruiser on his monitors, feeling an anxiety he had never known before. He felt the sudden realization that Shikari's life, in some way, was worth more than his alone and that somehow he owed her more than he had been giving so far... "Barrier system, stand by! Mr. Faulk, check your targets and fire at will!" Ajax's gun turrets fired at once while all twelve of the ships missile tubes launched their rockets, all homing in on separate targets across the distance. Four enemy ships took direct hits, three of which were instantly destroyed. The dead ships fell back behind the formation and answered Harper's attack with dozens of reaction missiles and a salvo of particle cannons. "_Reflex barrier!_"

Lieutenant Faulk threw the switch just before the missiles impacted and the energy field sprang up around the ship as the missiles impacted. What seemed like a hundred fireballs all crammed into one small space around them, tossing the vessel around like a feather in a tornado and bathing the vessel in pure energy. The last of the missiles impacted just before the field coils shorted out, leaving the Ajax now completely defenseless against future attacks. "Barrier system is offline! Immediate repairs are impossible!"

Kong noticed the change in the ship's attitude, the fact that its defense field had cut out so abruptly after that last impact. This one was finished, he needed only to knock it out of the way and move on to his real target. The ship that belonged to Shikari Raskanos would be a true prize for his collection. "Fire control, that cruiser is blocking our line of fire! Destroy it quickly before the target gets out of range!" On his command, the battleship's main cannon started to power up.

"They're preparing to fire sir!" Faulk shouted in pure angst. "Number two pinpoint barrier's off line!"

Harper took a deep breath and grabbed a hold of the railing. "Execute grappler program three! All hands brace for impact!"

Kong's battleship fired a single blast from its main cannon directly at the Ajax as the ship raised both grappler arms over its main hull in a vain effort to defend itself. The beam hit the arms dead center, punched through all four pinpoint barriers and both grapplers before striking the main body and punching strait through the ship itself. The innards of the vessel superheated, air and metal turned to plasma. The sudden burst of energy filling the ship formed a powerful explosion that split the ship in two, both halves quickly vanishing into the growing fireball. The destroyers that had been around Harper's ship answered back with their own reaction missiles and main guns, stalling the enemy away from the Defiant as it retreated but shortly to suffer the same fate as the Ajax itself.

Gallaron and Zentradi ships fought through the enemy reinforcements around them, pushing back through a gauntlet of laser cannons and battlepods to the safety of the rallying point far beyond the orbit of the planet. More enemy ships defolded behind them, and the Allies found themselves pursued by a force easily ten times their size, attacking from all directions. And on the bridge of the cruiser Defiant, Admiral Shikari was in tears for the first time in her life.

—19:31 GST—  
The haze of energy from the fold reaction dwindled away, replaced by a calm, empty star field with the disk of a gas-giant in the background. The fall-back point at the edge of the Kaladan system was as peaceful as it could get. Even so, they had no intention of staying here longer than they had to as more and more Supervision Army reinforcements poured in from outside the system.

Commander Ryder cleared her throat gently, tactfully catching Captain Matheson's attention as she sat, crumbled in her command chair. Corina looked up slowly and listened for her report. "Reconnaissance confirms it, Captain," She said gently, "No enemy pursuit detected."

She nodded in satisfaction, but couldn't help but ask the question again, "Any update on our pilots?"

Amelia shivered at the question, "Yes, Sir, we have an official count."

"How many?"

"Um..." She shifted her weight uncomfortably, "We managed to recover forty one E-Valks and fifteen Lightnings. None of the powered infantry made it back, sir."

"I see." Corina sighed, and sank into her seat a little deeper. At this moment she was the living embodiment of the feeling that now permeated the entire allied fleet. The toll on the fleet had been relatively light, despite the massive losses of experienced pilots and soldiers all across the board. Even so, every one of them, from the Zentradi officers of the Botoru fleet to the Suranian crewmen in their little fighters, all knew the implications of the outcome of this battle. Their inability to contact the Botoru Main Fleet on the far side of the sector only confirmed their suspicions and effectively sealed their fate: soon the Supervision Army would regroup their main forces and begin the final fleet action that would see the end of protoculture once and for all.

Standing on the bridge of the Monitor, with an exhausted Colonel Ichijo just a few steps behind, Misa felt as though she had just been invited to her own funeral. Kaladan was now a distant point of light five light years away, but for her it might as well have been a distant galaxy in a completely different universe. "This is SDF-04 to all surviving ships," She said solemnly, as if she had somehow aged by two decades since the end of the battle, begin fold operations as per designated coordinates. We don't have much time before Lacul makes his move."


End file.
